Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff were engaged by suppliers (a) Crown Commercial Services Frameworks and (b) Experis Ltd in addition to any other known suppliers; and if he will publish details of the engagement contracts of those other suppliers in each year; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The number of contingent labour engagements since July 2015 for RCDTS is 233, of which 84 are current at the time this request was received.
HMRC's central record of engagements, created in 2016, provides 1,815 contracts of which 248 are still current. This is excluding the figures provided in relation to RCDTS.
This data has been extracted from HMRC’s system under the Crown Commercial Services Framework agreement, known as Public Sector Resourcing (PSR).
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the (a) number and (b) proportion of total staff engaged by RCDTS via an umbrella company or similar in either an (i) individual or (ii) limited company capacity in each year since July 2015 to date.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
In accordance with retention policy and in preparation to ensure compliance with the 2017 reforms to the off-payroll working rules, RCDTS only holds a complete central record of engagements from 2016 to present.
With contingent staff there is always at least one agency between RCDTS and the individual contractor, although in practice this contract may be further sub-contracted, so that there are multiple agencies between RCDTS and the contractor.
Umbrella companies are known to be used by off-payroll workers engaged via an intermediary and records show this to be the case for 102 or 43% of total engagements for which records are held.
RCDTS would hold a contractual relationship with either the recruitment agency or service provider rather than any umbrella company and is not involved in the payment arrangements of individual contractors.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the (a) number and (b) proportion of total staff engaged by HMRC via an umbrella company or similar in an (i) individual and (ii) limited company capacity for each year since December 2010 to date; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
In accordance with departmental retention policy, and in preparation to ensure compliance with the 2017 reforms to the off-payroll working rules, HMRC only hold a complete central record of departmental engagements from 2016 to present.
With contingent staff there is always at least one agency between HMRC and the individual contractor, although in practice this contract may be further sub-contracted, so that there are multiple agencies between the department and the contractor themselves.
Umbrella companies are known to be used by off-payroll workers engaged via an intermediary and records show this to be the case for 317 or 17% of total engagements for which records are held.
HMRC would hold a contractual relationship with either the recruitment agency or service provider rather than any umbrella company and are not involved in the payment arrangements of individual contractors.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost is to RCDTS of staff engaged by suppliers (a) Crown Commercial Services Frameworks and (b) Experis Ltd, alongside and in addition to any other known suppliers; and if he will publish details of the engagement contracts of those other suppliers for each year since July 2015 to date; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
In accordance with departmental retention policy, and in preparation to ensure compliance with the 2017 reforms to the off-payroll working rules, HMRC only hold a complete central record of departmental engagements from 2016 to the present.
From HMRC records (2017 to date), RCDTS’ total spend on contingent staff is £31.7m.
The accuracy of this data is dependent on the correct categorisation of the spend and does not take into account any supplier duplication. It also does not take into account changes that may have taken place within this sector and supplier marketplace.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the letter from the HM Treasury Correspondence and Enquiry Unit of 2 July 2020 to the hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead, ref MC2020/19806, on irrecoverable VAT in the homecare sector, if he will change the VAT status of social care services to zero-rated rather than exemption.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Under the current VAT rules, many care services provided by charities, public bodies and regulated private welfare institutions are exempt from VAT, meaning no VAT is charged on their services. The Government has no plans to review the VAT treatment of these services at present.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July to Question 65099 on Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme: Directors, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using the 2018-19 submissions for company directors on annual payroll schemes in the same was as for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
For an employee to be eligible for the CJRS they must have been notified to HMRC on a real-time information (RTI) submission on or before 19 March. Those paid annually are eligible to claim, as long as they meet the relevant conditions. These conditions include being notified to HMRC on an RTI submission on or before 19 March 2020, which relates to a payment of earnings in the 2019/2020 tax year. Anyone paid annually and notified on an RTI submission after that date will not be eligible for the scheme, which puts them in the same position as those who are paid more frequently and weren’t notified to HMRC on or before 19 March. The 19 March cut-off date allows as many people as possible to be included, by going right up to the day before the announcement and balances the risk of fraud that existed as soon as the scheme became public.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made on extending the eligibility for VAT reductions in the Accommodation and Food Services sector to kennel and cattery businesses.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
In light of the Covid-19 outbreak, the Chancellor has introduced a range of measures to help individuals and businesses through the crisis, including grants, loans and relief from business rates at a cost of more than £300 billion.
The temporary reduced rate of VAT will support the tourism and hospitality sectors and will help over 150,000 businesses and protect over 2.4 million jobs. There are currently no plans to expand the scope of the temporary VAT reduction to include kennel and cattery businesses. However, the Government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the standard of correspondence produced by the Correspondence and Enquiry Unit in his Department in response to enquiries raised during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
Since March, the Treasury has received over 18,000 items of correspondence from Honourable Members – the largest correspondence volume received of any Government department leading on coronavirus pandemic. Replying to this amount of correspondence while delivering targeted action to protect millions of jobs and livelihoods is a significant challenge for a department of around 1,500 staff. However, the Treasury ensures that every MP receives a timely, accurate and informative reply to their queries. On rare occasions, when MPs have said any replies from the Treasury have not fully covered the issue raised, the department has provided an additional reply covering any outstanding points as soon as possible.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support company directors on annual payroll schemes who did not qualify for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme as a result of the 19 March RTI deadline; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
For an employee to be eligible for the CJRS they must have been notified to HMRC on a real-time information (RTI) submission on or before 19 March. Those paid annually are eligible to claim, as long as they meet the relevant conditions including being notified to HMRC on an RTI submission on or before 19 March 2020, which relates to a payment of earnings in the 2019/2020 tax year. Anyone paid annually and notified on an RTI submission after that date will not be eligible for the scheme, which puts them in the same position as those who are paid more frequently and were not notified to HMRC on or before 19 March.
The Government has sought to prioritise help for the greatest number of people as quickly as possible. Given this, the CJRS has had to be set up to operate at significant scale and with limited manual intervention. Extending the cut-off date beyond 20 March would have significantly increased the risk of abuse because claims could not be verified against the risk of fraud using the data after this point, when?the scheme became public.
The Government is also supporting people on low incomes who need to rely on the welfare system through a significant package of temporary measures. These include a £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element, and a nearly £1bn increase in support for renters through increases to the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants.?These changes will benefit new and existing claimants.