Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans amend his policies on the triple lock on state pensions.
Answered by Steve Barclay
Due to the unprecedented economic circumstances, average earnings fell last year. Under current legislation, this would mean a freeze to State Pensions. However, the Government took action by legislating to give the Government the ability to increase State Pension and Pension Credit rates for 2021/22. This enabled the Government to honour its manifesto commitment to the Triple Lock which uprates the State Pension each year by the highest of average earnings growth, price inflation and 2.5%. As announced by the Secretary of State for the Department for Work and Pensions on 25 November, the new State Pension and the basic State Pension will both be increased by 2.5% this April.
As with all aspects of Government policy with major spending implications, any decisions on future changes to the Triple Lock will be taken as part of the annual Budget process in the context of the wider public finances. Final decisions on uprating policy for pensions and welfare benefits are taken by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions through her annual uprating review.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what flexibility is provided in his plans to allow an additional 12 months for self-assessment taxpayers to pay their liabilities.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Chancellor understands that many Self-Assessment taxpayers may find it difficult paying their Self-Assessment liabilities that become due on 31 January 2021, due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Therefore, on 1 October 2020, the Chancellor announced that from that date HMRC’s online payment service had been upgraded to enable more taxpayers to set up a Time To Pay instalment payment plan without the need to contact HMRC beforehand. The threshold for using this service was increased from £10,000 to £30,000. HMRC estimate that the increase in this threshold will enable 95% of the Self-Assessment liabilities becoming due on 31 January 2021 to be paid this way.
Those taxpayers with Self-Assessment liabilities in excess of £30,000 can still contact HMRC to set up a bespoke Time To Pay arrangement appropriate to their personal circumstances.
HMRC can be flexible with the duration of payment instalments. If a taxpayer needs longer than 12 months to settle their tax liabilities they are encouraged to contact HMRC in the usual way to agree a longer payment plan.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to adjust the rate of VAT applied to bee keeping equipment after the end of the transition period.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
VAT is a broad based tax on consumption and the twenty per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services, including on equipment used for bee keeping. Businesses that are registered for VAT will usually be able to reclaim the VAT they incur when they purchase these items for business purposes.
Changing the rate of VAT on bee keeping equipment would come at a cost to the Exchequer. Although the Government keeps all taxes under review, the Government has no current plans to change the VAT treatment of such goods.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
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 VAT duties paid by bee keepers for bee keeping equipment in the last 12 months.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
HMRC do not hold data on VAT collected specifically from the activities of bee keepers.
HMRC record and publish annually details of VAT receipts and liabilities across trade sectors and subsectors, but not of activities at this level of detail.
HMRC do not hold information on VAT revenue from specific products or services because businesses are not required to provide figures at a product level on their VAT returns, as this would impose an excessive administrative burden.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the reasons are for the exclusion of ten pin bowling businesses from the reduction in VAT for tourism and hospitality businesses.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The temporary reduced rate of VAT was introduced on 15 July to support the cash flow and viability of over 150,000 businesses and protect 2.4 million jobs in the hospitality and tourism sectors, which have been severely affected by Covid-19.
Hospitality for the purposes of this relief includes the supply of food and non-alcoholic beverages from restaurants, cafes, pubs and similar establishments for consumption on the premises. It also includes the supply of hot food and non-alcoholic hot beverages to take away.
Where a bowling alley provides such hospitality, that hospitality will benefit from the reduced rate, although admission to a bowling alley itself is not eligible. Further information can be found in VAT Guidance: reduced rate for hospitality, holiday accommodation and attractions on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/catering-takeaway-food-and-vat-notice-7091.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost of including business improvement district levies in the business rates relief support during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Business rates are distinct from the Business Improvement District (BID) levy and are managed separately. The BID legislation requires businesses to pay the BID levy and any decision to waive or reduce the levy is to be made by the BID Board of Directors. Therefore, business rates relief will not be applied to any percentage payment towards a BID.
However, the Government is making available up to £6.1 million of support to BIDs to cover the equivalent of three months of core operational costs. This funding will protect BID bodies from insolvency and ensure that they weather the current crisis. Local authorities and BIDs will now be able to be flexible with the enforcement of the levy for businesses that are unable to pay, but business remain liable for the levy and those that can still pay should still pay.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the covid-19 outbreak and the Bank of England’s reduction in interest rates, what plans he has to reduce the interest rates applied to Plan 2 Income Contingent Repayment student loans.
Answered by Steve Barclay
The system for setting interest rates on student loans is set out in The Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) Regulations 2009, as amended.
Student loans have much more favourable terms than commercial loans and the Government regularly monitors the interest rates set on student loans against the interest rates prevailing on the market. The most appropriate comparators for undergraduate student loans are the effective interest rates available on unsecured personal loans, as published by the Bank of England (data series CFMBJ77 and CFMBJ94).
We continue to monitor Covid-19 impacts on students and work to understand the issues they face.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he received on providing £2 million of seed funding for the Great South West initiative.
Answered by Steve Barclay
We received a wide range of representations at Spring Budget, including from the Great South West. The Chancellor set out our plan at Budget to level up every region and nation of the UK. For the South West, this ranges from major investment in infrastructure, including the A303 Stonehenge, an intra-city transport settlement for West of England from a £4.2bn envelope and the rollout of gigabit broadband, to a cut to National Insurance for over 2.5 million people in the South West.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will change the status of the Mayflower 400 commemorative coin from collectors-only to general circulation.
Answered by John Glen
The Royal Mint has a long-established tradition of producing coins in order to mark historic moments. The 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s voyage is an important moment in our shared history with the United States and will rightly be celebrated with the production of a commemorative coin. The number and denomination of coins issued into circulation is dependent on demand from UK banks and Post Offices.