Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what targets his Department has set to help achieve the Government's commitments on net zero.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Government set out how we would meet our commitments in the Net Zero Strategy in 2021 which included a detailed breakdown of actions required across all sectors in the economy. This was updated in 2023 through the publication of 'Powering Up Britain'.
The UK has halved its emissions, ahead of every other major economy, and we have grown our economy by over 70% since 1990. The UK over-achieved against the first and second carbon budgets, and the latest projections show that we are on track to meet the third.
We have one of the most ambitious decarbonisation targets in the world, and we have set more stretching targets for 2030 than most countries. We plan to cut emissions by 68% by 2030, which is more than the EU, Japan or the United States.
Since Spending Review 2021, Government has committed an additional £6 billion for energy efficiency and clean heat, up to £20 billion for Carbon Capture, Use and Storage (CCUS) and £960m through the Green Industries Growth Accelerator.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many employment tribunals were brought by employees of their Department in the last 12 months.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
Employment Tribunals are the judicial body with responsibility for workplace justice, being the main forum for deciding disputes between workers and employers.There is no central Civil Service Policy on Employment Tribunals.
Employment Tribunals are administered by HM Courts & Tribunals Service and as such guidance is provided by HMCTS.
Details of all employment tribunal decision outcomes are available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/employment-tribunal-decisions.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an estimate of the number of people that will be paying a higher rate of tax in the next 12 months in the context of the freezing of the basic income tax threshold.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
This is available in tab C3A of the Chapter 3 charts and tables as part of the OBR’s November 2023 Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO):
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the number of people who are in arrears on their residential mortgages.
Answered by Bim Afolami
There is a wide variety of data and statistics about the mortgage market in the UK available from the Bank of England (https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/statistics), the Financial Conduct Authority (https://www.fca.org.uk/data) and UK Finance (https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/data-and-research/data). These sources indicate that the level of arrears in residential mortgages remain low.
In June, the Chancellor working with lenders representing over 90% of the market agreed to our new Mortgage Charter, which includes new flexibilities to help customers manage their repayments.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an estimate of the total amount banks have repaid customers that have been victims of (a) fraud and (b) payment scams.
Answered by Bim Afolami
The Government takes fraud and scams very seriously and is dedicated to protecting the public from this devastating crime. Tackling fraud and scams requires a unified and co-ordinated response from government, law enforcement and the private sector to better protect the public and businesses, reduce the impact on victims, and increase the disruption and prosecution of fraudsters.
According to data published by the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) on 31 October, the fourteen largest payment service providers reimbursed a total of £237,219,623 of losses from authorised push payment (APP) fraud. Reimbursement rates varied significantly by firm. As part of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, the Government legislated to enable the PSR to mandate payment service providers to reimburse victims of APP scams. This will ensure that victims of APP scams are reimbursed on a more consistent basis and ensure greater consumer protection. The Government also intends to introduce legislation to allow payment service providers to slow down payments processing when there is a reasonable suspicion of fraud. The Government will introduce this legislation in due course.
Beyond this, the Government has taken significant action to address this issue. In May 2022, the Government published its fraud strategy, setting out a number of new measures. For example, the Government announced it will extend the ban on cold calling to cover all consumer financial services and products, and recently consulted on the design and scope of this ban. The Government has also taken action to address fraudulent activity being hosted online through the Online Safety Act 2023, which includes a new standalone duty requiring large internet firms to remove fraudulent content on their platforms.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's policies to tackle bank (a) fraud and (b) scams.
Answered by Bim Afolami
The Government takes fraud and scams very seriously and is dedicated to protecting the public from this devastating crime. Tackling fraud and scams requires a unified and co-ordinated response from government, law enforcement and the private sector to better protect the public and businesses, reduce the impact on victims, and increase the disruption and prosecution of fraudsters.
According to data published by the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) on 31 October, the fourteen largest payment service providers reimbursed a total of £237,219,623 of losses from authorised push payment (APP) fraud. Reimbursement rates varied significantly by firm. As part of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, the Government legislated to enable the PSR to mandate payment service providers to reimburse victims of APP scams. This will ensure that victims of APP scams are reimbursed on a more consistent basis and ensure greater consumer protection. The Government also intends to introduce legislation to allow payment service providers to slow down payments processing when there is a reasonable suspicion of fraud. The Government will introduce this legislation in due course.
Beyond this, the Government has taken significant action to address this issue. In May 2022, the Government published its fraud strategy, setting out a number of new measures. For example, the Government announced it will extend the ban on cold calling to cover all consumer financial services and products, and recently consulted on the design and scope of this ban. The Government has also taken action to address fraudulent activity being hosted online through the Online Safety Act 2023, which includes a new standalone duty requiring large internet firms to remove fraudulent content on their platforms.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to remove the VAT levied on (a) defibrillators and (b) associated equipment.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government currently provides various VAT reliefs to aid the purchase of defibrillators and other first aid equipment. For example, when an AED is purchased with funds provided by a charity or by voluntary contributions, and then donated to an eligible body (such as an NHS body or a charitable care institution), this purchase can then be zero rated, meaning no VAT is charged. Otherwise, they attract the standard rate of VAT.
Beyond this, the Government has agreed to provide funding of £1 million to design a grant scheme that expands public access to AEDs. The Government continues to encourage communities and organisations across England to consider purchasing a defibrillator as part of their first-aid equipment, specifically in densely populated areas. In addition, last year the Government committed to supplying state-funded schools in England with defibrillators to make sure there is a device in every school, with deliveries completed in June 2023. This means that every state-funded school in England, over 21,500 schools, now has access to an AED.
The Department of Health and Social Care are examining whether there are ways to further expand public access to defibrillators.
The Government keeps all taxes under constant review.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to increase the personal savings allowance.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The Government’s savings tax policy rewards savers by incentivising greater saving and investment. On top of the normal Personal Allowance, the Personal Savings Allowance allows up to £1,000 of tax-free savings for basic rate taxpayers and up to £500 for higher rate taxpayers. Over and above that, individuals can also save up to £20,000 into an Individual Savings Account (ISA) each year, and any savings income received on cash within an ISA is tax free. Combined, this means that around 90% of people with savings income pay no tax on that income.
As with all taxes, we keep the level of the Personal Savings Allowance under review, and any changes would be made at a fiscal event.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HMRC has received legal advice on collecting loan charge refunds from (a) employees and (b) employers.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
HMRC’s lawyers considered all relevant legal points when providing the advice that informed HMRC’s approach to collecting disguised remuneration tax liabilities including the Loan Charge from employers and, where appropriate, employees.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) promoters and (b) operators of schemes subject to the loan charge who have been prosecuted for (i) promoting and (ii) operating those schemes, as of 8 September 2023.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 July 2023 to Question UIN 192681