Asked by: Johnny Mercer (Conservative - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the number of licences given by the Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation to British law firms in respect of Russian operations; and whether that organisation allows licensed firms to continue representing Russian state-related companies.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Data on licences issued will be provided in OFSI’s Annual Review 2021-22 which is due to be published this year.
Asked by: Johnny Mercer (Conservative - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether further cost savings are being sought from his Department as part of the National Security Capability Review process.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The Government has no plans to cut the Defence budget.
Spending Review 2015 remains the basis of the government’s spending plans. We have the biggest defence budget in Europe and the fifth largest in the world. We are one of very few countries to not only meet, but exceed NATO’s 2 per spending target. Over the next three years, the Defence Budget is increasing by £1bn a year.
Ministers will consider the conclusions of the National Security Capability Review in due course.
Asked by: Johnny Mercer (Conservative - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which charities have received Libor funding in each of the last five years; and how much funding those charities have received.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
1. LIBOR funding is only committed to the following entities:
· Registered Charities
· Community Interest Companies (CIC)
· Armed Forces Units with a Unit Identification Number (UIN)
Details of LIBOR funding can be found at the following links:
GOV.UK LIBOR Webpages
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/libor-funding-applications
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/banking-fines-to-fund-armed-forces-charity-projects
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/libor-fines-to-fund-armed-forces-charity-projects
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bank-fines-to-be-used-to-support-britains-armed-forces-community
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-armed-forces-charities-to-benefit-from-banking-fines
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/100-million-bank-fines-allocated-by-government-to-good-causes
National Audit Office Report on the ‘Investigation into the management of the Libor Fund’
Asked by: Johnny Mercer (Conservative - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which non-charitable entities have received Libor funding in each of the last five years; and how much those entities have received.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
1. LIBOR funding is only committed to the following entities:
· Registered Charities
· Community Interest Companies (CIC)
· Armed Forces Units with a Unit Identification Number (UIN)
Details of LIBOR funding can be found at the following links:
GOV.UK LIBOR Webpages
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/libor-funding-applications
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/banking-fines-to-fund-armed-forces-charity-projects
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/libor-fines-to-fund-armed-forces-charity-projects
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bank-fines-to-be-used-to-support-britains-armed-forces-community
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-armed-forces-charities-to-benefit-from-banking-fines
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/100-million-bank-fines-allocated-by-government-to-good-causes
National Audit Office Report on the ‘Investigation into the management of the Libor Fund’
Asked by: Johnny Mercer (Conservative - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding will be made available for charities in the upcoming round of Libor funding.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The amount of funding which will be made available in the upcoming round of LIBOR grants, ‘LIBOR 2017’, has yet to be confirmed.
Asked by: Johnny Mercer (Conservative - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress is being made on reducing the deficit.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Since 2010, the deficit has been reduced by three-quarters. However, as the OBR’s Fiscal Risks Report published last week shows, the public finances remain vulnerable and it’s important for this country to bring down its levels of debt.
That is why the government has committed to reduce the structural deficit to below 2% and get debt falling as a share of GDP by 2020-21, guiding the public finances back to balance by the middle of the next decade.
Asked by: Johnny Mercer (Conservative - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.10 of the Government's response to the independent review of the Money Advice Service, published in March 2015, when his Department plans to publish the terms of reference for an in-depth review of the impacts of additional statutory consumer protections.
Answered by Simon Kirby
The government response to the Independent Review of the Money Advice Service was published by the coalition government. This government shares the view that it is essential to ensure the right options and incentives are available to consumers to help them deal with their debts.
The government is considering in detail the impacts of additional statutory consumer protections, ensuring that any potential changes would fit well with the formal and informal debt solutions currently available to consumers. For example, the government has committed to exploring whether some form of ‘breathing space’, a statutory period of protection from repayment and enforcement action, would be a useful and viable addition to the current range debt solutions available to consumers and creditors.
Work is continuing on this review, and the government plans to report back shortly.
Asked by: Johnny Mercer (Conservative - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people paid the (a) top rate, (b) higher rate and (c) basic rate of income tax in (i) Plymouth Moor View, (ii) Plymouth Sutton and Devonport and (iii) South West Devon constituency in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by David Gauke
Published estimates of numbers of taxpayers, total income and total tax, broken down by income sources and parliamentary constituencies are available from the National Statistics Personal Incomes Statistics release.
Information from 2010-11 to 2012-13 is available at the link below.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-and-tax-by-parliamentary-constituency-2010-to-2011
Information for earlier years is available at the link below.
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Asked by: Johnny Mercer (Conservative - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on earnings of the increase in the personal allowance planned for 2016-17; and how he plans to deliver an increase in that allowance to £12,500 by 2020.
Answered by David Gauke
Summer Budget 2015 confirmed that the personal allowance will increase from £10,600 in 2015-16 to £11,000 in 2016-17. These changes will benefit over 29 million individuals, taking 570,000 taxpayers out of income tax altogether. A typical basic rate taxpayer will see their income tax bill reduced by £905, compared to 2010.
This is the first step towards meeting our commitment to raise the personal allowance to £12,500 by the end of this parliament.