Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made any assessment of the potential impact of duty free arrivals stores on the revenue generation of (a) UK travel hubs, (b) Newcastle International Airport and (c) other regional airports.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Treasury does not hold data relating to individual airports’ sales and revenue.
Duty-free on arrival would place additional pressure on the public finances to which excise duty makes a significant contribution. Tax generated by the Government helps fund key spending priorities such as important public services, including the NHS, education, and defence.
Although there are no plans to introduce a duty-free on arrival scheme, 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: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of how much and what proportion of annual revenue generated by (a) Newcastle International Airport and (b) other regional airports is non-aeronautical; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of introducing duty free stores on arrivals on that level of revenue.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Treasury does not hold data relating to individual airports’ sales and revenue.
Duty-free on arrival would place additional pressure on the public finances to which excise duty makes a significant contribution. Tax generated by the Government helps fund key spending priorities such as important public services, including the NHS, education, and defence.
Although there are no plans to introduce a duty-free on arrival scheme, 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: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the European Commission's policy document entitled Review of the VAT rules applicable to travel and tourism sector: meeting with stakeholders, published on 19 October 2022, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed introduction of arrivals duty free in the EU on trends in the level of departure sales at UK airports.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK has extended airside duty-free shopping to all passengers leaving the UK, including those travelling to the EU, meaning passengers can benefit from duty-free shopping in UK airports before travelling to their destination.
Whilst the Government has no plans to introduce duty-free for arrivals in the UK, we keep all tax policy under review and consider all available evidence.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make a comparative assessment of the potential impact of personal allowances on bringing excise and non-excise into the (a) UK and (b) EU on tax revenues.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Passengers arriving in Great Britain from outside the UK, and those arriving in Northern Ireland from outside the EU do not need to make a formal declaration for goods that fall within the allowances.
Consequently, we do not hold any information in relation to the tax revenue on goods brought into the UK that are within the permitted allowances. We also do not have access to information on EU tax revenue.
Therefore, we are unable to make a comparative assessment of the potential impact of personal allowances on UK and EU tax revenues.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what was the (a) value and (b) volume of (i) excise and (i) non-excise goods brought into the UK for personal use via the permitted personal allowances were in each year since 2012.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Passengers arriving in Great Britain from outside the UK, and those arriving in Northern Ireland from outside the EU do not need to make a formal declaration for goods that fall within the allowances.
Consequently, we do not hold any information in relation to the value and volume of excise and non-excise goods brought into the UK that are within the permitted personal allowances.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the potential effect of the phasing out of Government covid-19 support on the number of the self-employed; and whether he has commissioned research on the impact of that matter on the employment rate.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) provided unprecedented support to self-employed people who met the eligibility criteria. As of 4 November 2021, the scheme had supported 2.9 million people through 10.4 million grants worth £28.1 billion.
As set out in the Plan for Jobs Progress Update, published on 13 September 2021, the economy is now in a stronger position than it was last autumn, and the labour market is in a stronger position too. As the economy has reopened the jobs market has recovered, vacancies are at record highs, and the success of the Government’s vaccine programme has allowed us to lift almost all restrictions.
That is why it is right that the Government has wound down its temporary pandemic support, while continuing to support businesses to invest in the recovery and supporting people into new jobs. At the start of this crisis, unemployment was expected to reach 12 per cent or more. It is now expected to peak at less than half of that level, at 5.2 per cent. That means more than two million fewer people are expected to be out of work than previously feared. As we move to a new phase of the Plan for Jobs, the Government will continue to maximise employment across the country, create high quality, productive jobs, and deliver the skills that people, businesses and the economy need to thrive as we build back better.
HMRC and HM Treasury will also carry out an evaluation of the SEISS to help inform future policymaking and delivery. The self-employment data necessary to carry out a full SEISS evaluation will not be available until 2023, upon HMRC’s receipt of Self-Assessment returns.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of raising the Employment Allowance in order to support small employers to offer (a) more roles and (b) higher wages.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government has no current plans to increase the Employment Allowance (EA). The EA has already been significantly increased since its introduction in 2014. In April 2020, the Government increased the EA from £3,000 to £4,000 and focused the relief on helping smaller businesses take on extra staff, fulfil their potential, and boost employment. This increase benefitted around 510,000 businesses, of which 65,000 businesses were estimated to be taken out of paying National Insurance contribution bills entirely.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department made of the financial impact of the rise in Employer National Insurance Contributions on (a) the employment rate and (b) wages, before that decision was taken.
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: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what research he has commissioned within his Department 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
I refer the Hon Member to the answer that was given to PQ UIN 76718.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of how many full time equivalent employees it will be possible to employ on (a) the National Living Wage and (b) the average national wage, before becoming liable to Employer National Insurance Contributions; and if he will make a statement.
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