Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of HMRC-approved mileage rates remaining fixed since 2011 on women.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) are used by employers to reimburse an employee’s expenses for business mileage in their private vehicle.
The government sets the AMAP rates to minimise administrative burdens. The AMAP rates applies equally to all employees, irrespective of their gender, who use their own car or van for business mileage.
The AMAP rates aim to reflect running costs including fuel, servicing and depreciation. Depreciation is estimated to constitute the most significant proportion of the AMAP rates.
Employers are not required to use the AMAPs rates. Instead, they can agree to reimburse a different amount that better reflects their employees’ circumstances. If an employee is paid less than the AMAP rate, they can claim Mileage Allowance Relief (MAR) on the shortfall. However, where payments exceed the relevant AMAP rate, there may be a tax and National Insurance charge on the difference.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether officials in his Department have had discussions with (a) HMRC and (b) HM Treasury on funding for the Scottish Government to help support an increase in mileage rates for care workers who provide support to disabled people in their own homes.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Scottish Government is well-funded to deliver all its devolved responsibilities, receiving around 25% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in other parts of the UK.
It is for the Scottish Government to allocate its funding in devolved areas as it sees fit, including support for care workers, and it is accountable to the Scottish Parliament for these decisions.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people living in destitution in Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The latest official statistics show that in 2019-20 there were 3,741 children in relative low income and 3,082 children in absolute low income in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, before housing costs.
We know that work is the best route out of poverty, which is why the government is investing more than £6 billion in labour market support over the next three years to help people move into, and progress in work.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the threshold number of full time equivalent employees on the (a) National Living Wage and (b) the average national wage that can be employed before an employer is liable to pay employer National Insurance Contributions from April 2022.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
An employer which is eligible to claim the Employment Allowance (EA) will be able to hire up to 3 employees on the National Living Wage who work 35 hours a week, for an entire year, before they have an employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) bill in 2022-23: https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates
An employer which is eligible to claim the EA will be able to hire up to 1.5 employees on the median national wage in 2021 before they have an employer NICs bill in 2022-23: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/annualsurveyofhoursandearnings/2021
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will make an estimate of the potential number of (a) business exits, (b) insolvencies in 2022-23; and what assessment he has made of (i) the potential extent of business mergers and consolidation in 2022-23 in (ii) the effect of (A) business exits, (B) insolvencies and (C) business consolidation on employment rates.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Support schemes such as the CJRS and government-backed loans kept insolvencies and business exits below normal levels throughout much of the pandemic.
To protect businesses from aggressive creditor action during Covid enforced restrictions there was a temporary ban on Winding Up Petitions (WUP) for Covid-19-related debt. As the economy returns to normal trading conditions, it is right that creditor powers are restored.
Insolvencies returned to pre-covid levels in September 2021, coinciding with the end of the WUP ban. It is too early to assess the full impact of support ending on business consolidation as some support schemes, such as the rent moratorium, are still in place.
Vacancy levels are higher than normal. As a result, we expect that the employment rate should remain relatively stable in the face of business exits and consolidation in 2022-23.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what research his Department has commissioned on the impact of the rise in Employer National Contributions on (a) the employment rate and (b) wages.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Office for Budget Responsibility set out their assessment of the economic effects of the Levy in their latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook, including the impact on labour supply and wages. This can be found here: https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-october-2021/
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department made, prior to the decision being taken, of the potential impact of the rise in Employer National Insurance Contributions on (a) the employment rate and (b) wages.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
I refer the Hon Member to the answer that was given on 19 November 2021 to PQ UIN 75954.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on levels of (a) pay and (b) employment of raising employment allowance.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government currently has no plans to increase the Employment Allowance (EA).
Since its introduction in April 2014, the EA has already been significantly increased, including rising from £3,000 to £4,000 in April 2020. This increase benefitted around 510,000 businesses, of which 65,000 businesses were estimated to be taken out of paying National Insurance contributions entirely.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the proportion of payroll employee jobs effected by the rise in (a) employee ad (b) employer National Insurance Contributions from April 2022.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government has not made an estimate of the proportion of payroll employee jobs affected by the rise in National Insurance contributions from April 2022 as this information is not available.
Individual employees are not directly impacted by the employer National Insurance rise which is paid by employers.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the impact assessments produced by banks when announcing a bank branch closure include an assessment of privacy provision at local post offices for confidentiality purposes.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The major high street banks have been signed up to the Access to Banking Standard since May 2017, which commits them to ensure customers are well informed about branch closures, the bank’s reasons for closure and options for continued access to banking services.
Under the Access to Banking Standard, banks are expected to publish an Impact Assessment which ensures impacted customers understand what the alternatives are when a branch is closing, how they can be accessed, and what the bank will do to help or assist with all or each of those.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has also published guidance setting out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce the number of their physical branches. The FCA expects firms to carefully consider the impact of a closure on a consumer’s needs and consider possible alternative access arrangements. Consumer needs could comprise physical access requirements, the need for privacy, or security for making transactions. This is particularly important for vulnerable customers, so they are not excluded from using everyday banking services.