Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the energy bill discount scheme prohibits consumers from switching suppliers.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
We are providing a £200 reduction in households’ energy bills from October which will benefit all domestic electricity customers in Great Britain to reduce pressure on energy bills this year when global gas prices are high. This reduction will be automatically recouped from people’s bills in equal instalments over the next five years, and we expect suppliers will reflect this as a standing charge on electricity bills, incorporated into their standard charging methodologies.
The repayment will not be unique to individual energy accounts. Customers will be able to switch energy providers in the usual way with no additional complications.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) will work closely with industry and consumer groups on how best to deliver this policy, including through a public consultation in the Spring.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of proposals to restrict the use of red diesel from April 2022 on the construction industry.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
At Budget 2020, the Chancellor announced that the Government will remove the entitlement to use red diesel from most sectors from April 2022. This will more fairly reflect the negative environmental impact of the emissions they produce and help to ensure that the tax system incentivises the development and adoption of greener alternative technologies.
The Government recognised that this would be a significant change for some businesses and ran a consultation to gather information from affected users on the expected impact of these tax changes and make sure it had not overlooked any exceptional reasons why affected sectors should be allowed to continue to use red diesel beyond April 2022. During the consultation period, the Government engaged directly with a wide variety of organisations, including representatives of the construction sector.
However, the Government did not believe that the case made by sectors that will not retain their red diesel entitlement, including the construction sector, outweighed the need to ensure fairness between the different users of diesel fuels and the Government’s environmental objectives.
To support the development of alternatives that affected businesses can switch to, the Government is at least doubling the funding provided for energy innovation through the £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio. From that portfolio, the Government announced the £40 million Red Diesel Replacement Competition, which will provide grant funding for projects that develop and demonstrate lower carbon, lower cost alternatives to red diesel for the construction, and mining and quarrying sectors.
As announced at Spring Budget 2021, from 1 April 2021 until 31 March 2023, companies can also claim 130% first-year capital allowances on qualifying plant and machinery investments.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has received representations from the Welsh Government on the impact of receipt of the NHS and social care financial recognition scheme by primary care workers in Wales on income tax liabilities and/or benefit payments.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
Frontline health and social care workers make a valuable contribution to our society and we are so grateful for their continued work.
Income Tax is a tax paid on income and is therefore applied to grants and support payments made because of Coronavirus, including the NHS and social care financial recognition scheme.
Receiving a bonus may reduce the amount of support a claimant receives through means-tested benefits such as Universal Credit. This is because if a claimants’ earnings increase, they therefore have more money available to support themselves. It is a long-standing principle of means-tested benefits that as a person’s earnings increase their Government support decreases.
HM Treasury officials regularly discuss these, and similar issues, with the Welsh Government and other devolved administrations.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of whether the Welsh Government’s comparability factor for the Department for Transport should be updated in light of the changes to HS2 outlined in the Integrated Rail Plan to recognise that (a) Northern Powerhouse Rail Core Network, (b) Transpennine Route Upgrade and (c) the smaller rail schemes in the North and Midlands are England-only projects.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The UK Government is responsible for much of the rail infrastructure in Wales and therefore spends money on this infrastructure rather than providing Barnett-based funding for the Welsh Government to do so. This is consistent with funding arrangements for all other reserved responsibilities in Wales. For example, the UK Government spends money on policing in Wales rather than providing the Welsh Government with Barnett-based funding in relation to spending on police forces in England.
In line with this responsibility, the UK Government is currently delivering an ambitious programme to upgrade Welsh railways, including through the electrification of the Severn Tunnel and building a new station at Bow Street.
The Welsh Government’s comparability factors will be revisited at the next Spending Review. However, they will not be significantly affected by changes in rail infrastructure spending across England and Wales given this is a reserved responsibility as set out above.
Full details of how comparability factors work are set out in the Statement of Funding Policy.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what Barnett consequential the Welsh Government will receive from the £5.4 billion allocated to the Transpennine Route Upgrade in the Integrated Rail Plan.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The UK Government is responsible for much of the rail infrastructure in Wales, and therefore spends money on this infrastructure rather than funding the Welsh Government to do so.
In line with this responsibility, the UK Government is currently delivering an ambitious programme to upgrade Welsh railways, including through the electrification of the Severn Tunnel and building a new station at Bow Street.
The Barnett formula is applied at fiscal events when departmental budgets are set rather than being applied when departments announce how they are spending their budgets. At the recent 2021 Spending Review the UK Government provided the Welsh Government with more than £18 billion on average each year over the spending review period. The Welsh Government will determine how to spend this on its devolved responsibilities.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what Barnett consequential the Welsh Government will receive from the £17.2 billion allocated to the Northern Powerhouse Rail Core Network in the Integrated Rail Plan.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The UK Government is responsible for much of the rail infrastructure in Wales, and therefore spends money on this infrastructure rather than funding the Welsh Government to do so.
In line with this responsibility, the UK Government is currently delivering an ambitious programme to upgrade Welsh railways, including through the electrification of the Severn Tunnel and building a new station at Bow Street.
The Barnett formula is applied at fiscal events when departmental budgets are set rather than being applied when departments announce how they are spending their budgets. At the recent 2021 Spending Review the UK Government provided the Welsh Government with more than £18 billion on average each year over the spending review period. The Welsh Government will determine how to spend this on its devolved responsibilities.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what Barnett consequential will the Welsh Government receive from the £12.8bn allocated to the HS2 East Core Network in the Integrated Rail Plan.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The UK Government is responsible for much of the rail infrastructure in Wales, and therefore spends money on this infrastructure rather than funding the Welsh Government to do so.
In line with this responsibility, the UK Government is currently delivering an ambitious programme to upgrade Welsh railways, including through the electrification of the Severn Tunnel and building a new station at Bow Street.
The Barnett formula is applied at fiscal events when departmental budgets are set rather than being applied when departments announce how they are spending their budgets. At the recent 2021 Spending Review the UK Government provided the Welsh Government with more than £18 billion on average each year over the spending review period. The Welsh Government will determine how to spend this on its devolved responsibilities.