Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to incentivise businesses to invest in new equipment or infrastructure.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Stimulating business investment will be key for our economic recovery.
Under the super-deduction we announced at Budget 2021, for every pound a company invests in qualifying plant and machinery, their taxes are cut by up to 25p.
We have also just launched the new UK Infrastructure Bank, which will partner with the private sector and local government, supporting more than £40bn of infrastructure investment overall.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress he has made with his G7 counterparts on establishing a global minimum corporation tax rate.
Answered by Jesse Norman
OECD proposals to update the international tax framework have been under negotiation for a number of years and the UK has an established record of being at the forefront of these talks.
The package being developed by the OECD includes two pillars; a change in the allocation of taxing rights over business profit, and a global minimum tax. That is something the UK strongly supports; the UK’s consistent position has been that it matters where tax is paid as well as the rate at which it is paid.
On 5 June the G7 finance ministers, meeting in London as part of the UK’s G7 Presidency, confirmed their commitment to a solution containing both pillars. The Government is delighted the G7 has come together to back the proposals developed by the OECD to reform the international tax framework.
Reaching final agreement on a two-pillar solution with the G20 and 139 members of the OECD Inclusive Framework would be a major multilateral achievement that introduces stability into the international tax landscape.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure multinational companies pay tax in the countries they operate in.
Answered by Jesse Norman
OECD proposals to update the international tax framework have been under negotiation for a number of years and the UK has an established record of being at the forefront of these talks.
The package being developed by the OECD includes two pillars; a change in the allocation of taxing rights over business profit, and a global minimum tax. That is something the UK strongly supports; the UK’s consistent position has been that it matters where tax is paid as well as the rate at which it is paid.
On 5 June the G7 finance ministers, meeting in London as part of the UK’s G7 Presidency, confirmed their commitment to a solution containing both pillars. The Government is delighted the G7 has come together to back the proposals developed by the OECD to reform the international tax framework.
Reaching final agreement on a two-pillar solution with the G20 and 139 members of the OECD Inclusive Framework would be a major multilateral achievement that introduces stability into the international tax landscape.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of furloughed employees during the covid-19 outbreak moving back into work.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Between the end of January and end of April 2021, 1.5 million left the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). The most recent ONS Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS) estimates the number of employees furloughed continued to decline to approximately 1.7 million in late May, the lowest level reported by the Survey since June 2020. At the same time, the number of payrolled employees has increased for six consecutive months.
The CJRS is therefore striking the right balance between supporting the economy as it opens up, continuing to provide support and protect incomes, and ensuring incentives are in place to get people back to work as demand returns.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to encourage home ownership.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government is committed to helping people own their own home and has introduced a range of measures to help first time buyers, including those announced at Budget 2021.
The mortgage guarantee scheme announced at Budget 2021 and launched on 19 April 2021 is increasing the availability of mortgages for credit-worthy households who only have a 5 percent deposit, helping them realise their dream of homeownership. The scheme follows on from the successful 2013 Help to Buy: Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, and as of 8 June there are 192 mortgage products available for buyers with a 5% deposit, compared to only 5 in February 2021.
At Budget 2015, the Government announced the Help to Buy: ISA to support people saving up for their first home. Savers who opened an account before December 2019 are eligible to claim for a government bonus of up to £3000 towards the purchase of their first home. Since it launched in 2015, 508,492 bonuses have been paid through the scheme supporting 386,728 property completions across the UK.
Similarly, the Lifetime ISA (LISA) allows those under 40 to save either towards buying a home or for the long term. Like the Help to Buy: ISA, the Government provides a 25% bonus month on month, meaning that people who save the maximum will receive a £1,000 bonus each year. First-time buyers saving into a LISA can use their tax-free savings, including the government bonus, to buy a home up to the value of £450,000 anywhere in the UK, at any point after the account has been open for 12 months.
The nil rate band for Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) has been temporarily increased to £500,000 and will reduce to £250,000 from 1 July 2021. However, from 1 July 2021, first time buyers purchasing properties up to £500,000 in value will get an additional relief, meaning they will pay no Stamp Duty on the first £300,000 and then only pay Stamp Duty at a rate of 5% on the remaining amount.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with his G7 counterparts on prioritising environmental issues in the global economic recovery from the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Chancellor met his G7 Finance Minister counterparts for the first in-person Finance Track meeting in two years on 4-5 June 2021. Climate and environmental issues have been at the heart of the Chancellor’s discussions with his G7 counterparts, paving the way to a truly green global economic recovery.
As a result result, G7 Finance Ministers have commited to a multi-year effort to meet our net zero commitments and environmental objectives in a way that is positive for jobs, growth, competitiveness and fairness; and to properly embed climate change and biodiversity loss considerations into economic and financial decision-making.
As part of this joint effort, the Chancellor secured G7 commitment to move towards mandatory climate disclosures just six months after the UK was the first country to commit to do so. This will help to ensure the global financial system plays its part in the transition to net zero.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support the financial services sector following the end of the transition period.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Chancellor set out the Government’s strategy on financial services to the House in November, a vision of a sector that is more open; more technologically advanced; and a world-leader in the use of green finance, serving the communities and citizens of this country.
Since then we have passed a Financial Services Act to begin the necessary reforms to our framework, and agreed text with the EU for a regulatory cooperation forum paving the way for a more stable relationship.
In addition, we have set out our response to Ron Kalifa’s review of UK Fintech to ensure we continue to build on our existing strengths as a world leader in financial technology. We’ve also set out how we will take forward each of the recommendations in Lord Hill’s recent Listings Review that were addressed to the Treasury, and shared our plans to consult on reforms to the wider capital markets regime this summer, with the aim of supporting competitiveness, whilst ensuring the UK maintains high regulatory standards.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to encourage employers to take on more apprentices.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
We are encouraging employers of all sizes to hire new apprentices through our employer hiring incentives. Employers who hire a new apprentice of any age until 30th September will receive £3,000 per apprentice. These payments build on the scheme originally launched as part of the Plan for Jobs: between 1st August 2020 and 4th May 2021, nearly 53,000 payments have been claimed by employers.
We are also continuing to improve the apprenticeships system for employers by: introducing more flexible training options, such as the front-loading of training and accelerated apprenticeships; making the transfer of unspent Levy funds to SMEs easier through the introduction of a new pledge function and employer matching service in August 2021; and supporting apprenticeships in industries with flexible working patterns, including through the launch of a £7m fund in July 2021 to help qualifying employers set up and expand the flexi-job apprenticeship scheme. These improvements will help put employers more firmly in the driving seat, enabling them to utilise apprenticeships in ways that suit their business needs and encouraging them to take on more apprentices.