Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the contribution to the public purse of the apprenticeship levy since its introduction.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Monthly receipts data for the Apprenticeship Levy is published by HM Revenue & Customs in their Tax & NIC Receipts publication which can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the two child tax credit limit on kinship carers who are already raising two children.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The government is committed to making the welfare system fair for those who pay for it as well as those who benefit from it. Families in receipt of welfare payments should face the same financial decisions as families supporting themselves solely through work. However, in recognition that some claimants are not able to make choices about the number of children in their family, the government has provided exceptions for certain groups, including in cases of kinship care.
Data on the exceptions will be published at a future date following quality assurance.
As with all our policies, the government will continue to keep this policy under review.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward proposals to remove the two child tax credit limit for kinship carers who are unable to claim child tax credit for any child to whom they give birth.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The government is committed to making the welfare system fair for those who pay for it as well as those who benefit from it. Families in receipt of welfare payments should face the same financial decisions as families supporting themselves solely through work. However, in recognition that some claimants are not able to make choices about the number of children in their family, the government has provided exceptions for certain groups, including in cases of kinship care.
Data on the exceptions will be published at a future date following quality assurance.
As with all our policies, the government will continue to keep this policy under review.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the performance and effectiveness of (a) National Savings and Investments and (b) Atos in respect of tax-free childcare since that policy was launched in April 2017.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer that I gave on 16 October to the Hon Member for Arfon to PQ 105683.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the (a) system and (b) running costs of tax-free childcare; and whether that estimate exceeds the original budget for such childcare.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The forecast cost of developing the childcare service for Tax-Free Childcare is within the agreed budget for the Tax-Free Childcare programme, which is £357m through to 2021/22.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will postpone the deadline for closing childcare vouchers in April 2018 in the event that the Childcare Service IT system is not yet fully operational.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The forecast cost of developing the childcare service for Tax-Free Childcare is within the agreed budget for the Tax-Free Childcare programme, which is £357m through to 2021/22.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward proposals to protect families recovering from debt from internet enforcement action and other charges related to such debt.
Answered by Simon Kirby
The government has committed to exploring whether some form of “breathing space” would be a useful and viable addition to the current range of debt solutions available to consumers and creditors. Work is continuing on this review, and the government plans to provide an update in due course.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of fraudulent self-employment on the UK economy.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Government takes false self-employment seriously, and is committed to taking action where companies, to reduce their costs, force their staff down routes which deny them the employment rights and benefits that they are entitled to.
The Prime Minister has asked Matthew Taylor to lead an independent review to consider how employment practices need to change in order to keep pace with modern business models.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he had with investors in renewable energy before the changes to the Enterprise Investment Scheme on tax breaks for companies benefiting from the Renewables Obligation.
Answered by David Gauke
Budget 2014 announced that companies benefiting from Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) and/or the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme will be excluded from the venture capital schemes, including the enterprise investment scheme.
This change ensures the venture capital schemes continue to support smaller and growing businesses in a targeted and effective way. The government consulted extensively with stakeholders when similar action was taken to exclude companies benefitting from Feed-in-Tariffs from the venture capital schemes in 2011.
Further information on the detail of the change will be published shortly, ahead of the publication of an impact assessment and legislation.