Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of making costs associated with the organisation of remembrance services exempt from VAT.
Answered by Richard Fuller
VAT has been designed as a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to the vast majority of goods and services.
It would be administratively challenging for suppliers to identify and apply a different VAT treatment to supplies based on the type of event and for HMRC to ensure that the VAT treatment and VAT accounting is applied correctly throughout the supply chain. Businesses and organisations in the supply chain are normally able to recover VAT on costs. However, they are unable to recover the VAT on costs used in making exempt or out of scope supplies.
The Government keeps all taxes under review and welcomes representations to help inform future decisions on tax policy, as part of the tax policy making cycle and Budget process.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a rebate on fuel duty of 15 pence per litre for (a) hauliers, (b) coach operators and (c) other essential road users.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
At Spring Statement 2022, in response to high fuel prices, the Government announced a temporary 12-month cut to duty on petrol and diesel of 5p per litre. This represents a tax cut worth £2.4 billion in 2022-23, benefiting anyone who consumes fuel across the UK – including hauliers, coach operators and other essential road users.
All taxes remain under review.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 23 June 2022 to Question 18815 on Joint Unit for Waste Crime and with reference to the report by the National Audit Office entitled Investigation into government’s actions to combat waste crime in England, published on 27 April 2022, HC 1149, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of permanently deploying staff from HMRC to the Joint Unit for Waste Crime.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
There continues to be very close collaboration with the Joint Unit for Waste Crime (JUWC), including the current HMRC resource deployment. Whilst JUWC is focused on the overall challenge of combatting waste crime, tax compliance plays an important role, and HMRC will continue to evaluate the contribution it makes to the Environment Agency.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many employees of HM Revenue and Customs are currently permanently deployed to the Joint Unit on Waste Crime.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
HMRC has no permanently deployed resource to the Joint Unit of Waste Crime (JUWC), and do not feel that a permanently deployed resource to the JUWC would be needed at this time. The JUWC is mainly resourced with staff from the Environment Agency, and the main focus of the JUWC work is not tax compliance.Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of establishing a windfall tax on energy companies.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is introducing the Energy Profits Levy, a new 25% surcharge on the extraordinary profits the oil and gas sector is making.
The new Energy Profits Levy will raise around £5 billion over the next year which will go towards supporting people with the new cost of living measures announced by the Chancellor.
As part of the levy a new tax relief is being introduced to encourage firms to invest in the UK. The new 80% Investment Allowance will mean businesses will overall get a 91p tax saving for every £1 they invest.
The levy does not apply to the electricity generation sector. However, certain parts of it have also seen extraordinary profits partly due to record gas prices. As set out in the Energy Security Strategy, the Government is consulting with the power generation sector and investors to drive forward energy market reforms and ensure that the price paid for electricity is more reflective of the costs of production. Those reforms will take time to implement. In the meantime, the Government is urgently evaluating the scale of these extraordinary profits and the appropriate steps to take.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to introduce new regulations for funeral plan providers, in response to Safe Hands Plans entering administration in March 2022.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
In January 2021, the government legislated to bring all pre-paid funeral plan providers and intermediaries within the regulatory remit of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This means that by 29 July 2022 all funeral plan providers must be authorised by the FCA.
Safe Hands Plans has recently gone into administration. I am aware that the current situation will be distressing for customers of Safe Hands and can assure you that the Treasury continues to monitor the implementation of regulation in this sector closely.
While the FCA does not yet regulate funeral plan providers, it is currently supporting the industry and administrators to see if a longer-term solution is possible for Safe Hands’ customers.
It is regrettable that bringing a previously unregulated sector into regulation – whatever form that may take – creates a possibility that some providers are not able to meet the threshold for authorisation. However, a well-regulated market should promote effective competition and drive better outcomes for consumers in the long-term.
Where a provider is unable to obtain FCA authorisation because of underlying issues, it is important to understand that this is not an issue created by bringing the sector into regulation. Rather, bringing the sector into regulation exposes these unsustainable business models and prevents these problems from getting worse and impacting more consumers.
The Government’s legislation has allowed for an 18-month transition period before the new regulatory regime comes fully into force on 29 July 2022. This transition period was intended to give existing providers sufficient time to prepare for the new regulatory requirements. The FCA’s guidance is clear that providers who are not seeking or not able to obtain authorisation should either transfer their existing plans to a provider which is seeking authorisation, or wind down in an orderly way before regulation starts.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support he is providing to members of the public whose funeral plans are with Safe Hands Plans.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
In January 2021, the government legislated to bring all pre-paid funeral plan providers and intermediaries within the regulatory remit of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This means that by 29 July 2022 all funeral plan providers must be authorised by the FCA.
Safe Hands Plans has recently gone into administration. I am aware that the current situation will be distressing for customers of Safe Hands and can assure you that the Treasury continues to monitor the implementation of regulation in this sector closely.
While the FCA does not yet regulate funeral plan providers, it is currently supporting the industry and administrators to see if a longer-term solution is possible for Safe Hands’ customers.
It is regrettable that bringing a previously unregulated sector into regulation – whatever form that may take – creates a possibility that some providers are not able to meet the threshold for authorisation. However, a well-regulated market should promote effective competition and drive better outcomes for consumers in the long-term.
Where a provider is unable to obtain FCA authorisation because of underlying issues, it is important to understand that this is not an issue created by bringing the sector into regulation. Rather, bringing the sector into regulation exposes these unsustainable business models and prevents these problems from getting worse and impacting more consumers.
The Government’s legislation has allowed for an 18-month transition period before the new regulatory regime comes fully into force on 29 July 2022. This transition period was intended to give existing providers sufficient time to prepare for the new regulatory requirements. The FCA’s guidance is clear that providers who are not seeking or not able to obtain authorisation should either transfer their existing plans to a provider which is seeking authorisation, or wind down in an orderly way before regulation starts.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of Safe Hands Plans entering administration on members of the public with existing policies with the company.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
In January 2021, the government legislated to bring all pre-paid funeral plan providers and intermediaries within the regulatory remit of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This means that by 29 July 2022 all funeral plan providers must be authorised by the FCA.
Safe Hands Plans has recently gone into administration. I am aware that the current situation will be distressing for customers of Safe Hands and can assure you that the Treasury continues to monitor the implementation of regulation in this sector closely.
While the FCA does not yet regulate funeral plan providers, it is currently supporting the industry and administrators to see if a longer-term solution is possible for Safe Hands’ customers.
It is regrettable that bringing a previously unregulated sector into regulation – whatever form that may take – creates a possibility that some providers are not able to meet the threshold for authorisation. However, a well-regulated market should promote effective competition and drive better outcomes for consumers in the long-term.
Where a provider is unable to obtain FCA authorisation because of underlying issues, it is important to understand that this is not an issue created by bringing the sector into regulation. Rather, bringing the sector into regulation exposes these unsustainable business models and prevents these problems from getting worse and impacting more consumers.
The Government’s legislation has allowed for an 18-month transition period before the new regulatory regime comes fully into force on 29 July 2022. This transition period was intended to give existing providers sufficient time to prepare for the new regulatory requirements. The FCA’s guidance is clear that providers who are not seeking or not able to obtain authorisation should either transfer their existing plans to a provider which is seeking authorisation, or wind down in an orderly way before regulation starts.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government has any plans to write off loans made under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
There is no government policy to wholesale write off loans. Under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) all loans are liable to recovery action by lenders or – in the case of serious fraud or financial crime - law enforcement.
Unfortunately, some loans will ultimately not be recoverable and may result in lenders claiming on the government guarantee. All guarantee claims are scrutinised closely by the British Business Bank as administrators of the Scheme before they are settled. These claims include defaults due both to credit losses, where a business took the loan in good faith but could not make repayments and a smaller proportion that were marked as suspected fraud. Lenders continue to make recovery efforts even after they claim on the guarantee and return recovered funds to the government, so some of that money may be returned to HM Government in due course.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of Government fiscal policy in the context of the level of corporation tax paid by (a) Shell and (b) BP in the last three years.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
It would not be appropriate for the Government to comment on the affairs of individual taxpayers.