Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much was received in VAT receipts from the hospitality sector in each quarter since the temporary reduced VAT rate which applied to tourism and hospitality ended on 31 March 2022.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The ‘hospitality’ sector broadly equates to the Sector Industrial Classification of ‘Accommodation and Food Service Activities’ which is divided between two subsectors:
A sector and sub-sector breakdown of VAT declarations data is published in HMRC’s on the GOV.UK website here Value Added Tax (VAT) annual statistics, which reflects the net liabilities from VAT returns.
Currently, the available data covers the period up to and including the financial year 2021-2022. The VAT annual statistics are usually published in the Winter and covers the period up to the last complete financial year. A sector breakdown of VAT data for the 2022-2023 financial year will be included in the next publication. In line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, releases of these statistics are pre-announced on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) financial regulators and (b) the Financial Conduct Authority are equipped to protect people against financial scams.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government takes the issue of fraud very seriously and is dedicated to protecting the public from this devastating crime. Tackling fraud requires a unified and co-ordinated response from government, regulators, law enforcement and the private sector to better protect the public and businesses from fraud.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) requires regulated financial services firms to maintain effective systems and controls to prevent the risk that they might be used to further financial crime. This includes controls to prevent fraud.
HM Treasury is taking action through legislation in the Financial Services and Markets Bill, which enables the Payment Systems Regulator to mandate banks to reimburse victims of authorised push payment scams. The Government expects that this legislation will result in more consistent and comprehensive reimbursement outcomes, ensuring victims are not left out of pocket through no fault of their own.
Fraud prevention is supported by wider work of the Payment Systems Regulator, including introducing Confirmation of Payee requirements on the banking sector. This allows customers to check whether the name of a payee’s account matches the name and account details provided by a payer.
The Government is also taking action to address fraudulent activity being hosted online through the Online Safety Bill. The Bill includes a new standalone duty requiring large internet firms to tackle fraudulent advertising, including of financial services.
In addition, the Home Office shortly intends to publish a new strategy to address the threat of fraud, working with government, regulators, law enforcement and the private sector.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his planned timetable is for the publication of responses to the consultation entitled Raising standards in tax advice: protecting customers claiming tax repayments, published on 22 June 2022.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The consultation referred to ran for 12 weeks and closed on 14 September 2022. The Government will publish a response in due course.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Autumn Statement 2022, CP 751, published on 17 November 2022, whether the commitment to Northern Powerhouse Rail will retain the same route as previously announced.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Integrated Rail Plan (IRP), published in November 2021, set out a £96 billion package to improve rail connections across the North and Midlands over the next 30 years.
Autumn Statement 2022 confirmed the Government’s commitment to delivering the Northern Powerhouse Rail core network, as set out in the IRP. This includes building 40 miles of new high-speed line between Warrington, Manchester and Yorkshire, and upgrading and electrifying the rest of the route between Liverpool and York, as well the existing line between Leeds and Bradford.
The IRP is the largest ever single Government investment in the rail network and is expected to start delivering benefits from as early as this decade.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will allocate funding to the Department for Work and Pensions to (a) make the £20 uplift to universal credit permanent and (b) extend that uplift to legacy benefits.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit (UC) standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element is specifically aimed at providing significant temporary support to low income families who have seen their income fall as a result of the immediate impact of the crisis, and will run until March. It is right that we wait for more clarity on the economic and health context before making any further decisions, particularly given how quickly things can move, as demonstrated by recent developments on a vaccine.
The increase is just one part of wide-ranging Government measures to support people through the Covid-19 crisis, which are worth £280bn this year. Low income families are also benefiting from higher Local Housing Allowance rates, mortgage holidays, a temporary suspension of the UC Minimum Income Floor, a £500m local authority Hardship Fund, a £170m local authority Covid Winter Grant scheme, and £500 payments to help people self-isolate under NHS Test and Trace.
In recent years the Government has invested significantly in UC, including by raising work allowances by £1,000 from April 2019, benefitting working parents and people with disabilities by up to £630 per year.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether employers will be able to make new claims under the extended Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Neither the employer nor the employee needs to have previously claimed or have been claimed for under CJRS to make a claim under the extended CJRS (if other eligibility criteria are met). Furloughed employees must have been employed and on an employer’s PAYE payroll on 30 October 2020. This means a Real Time Information (RTI) submission notifying payment for that employee to HMRC must have been made on or before 30 October 2020. If employees were on payroll as of 23 September 2020 (i.e. notified to HMRC on an RTI submission on or before 23 September) and were made redundant or stopped working for their employer afterwards, they can also qualify for the scheme if their employer re-employs them.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether supermarkets that remain open during the covid-19 outbreak have been provided with business rates relief.
Answered by Jesse Norman
On 17 March the Chancellor announced a business rates holiday for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, irrespective of rateable value, so that all eligible businesses will pay no business rates for 12 months. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has published guidance for local authorities on eligibility of the business rates holiday for the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, which included supermarkets.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether business rate relief has been paid to businesses that are registered in tax havens.
Answered by Jesse Norman
On 17 March the Chancellor announced a business rates holiday for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, irrespective of rateable value, so that all eligible businesses will pay no business rates for 12 months. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has published guidance for local authorities on eligibility. Business rates are administered by local authorities and any information on ratepayers will be collected and held by the relevant local authority.
The Government’s current support measures are well-targeted at the businesses and individuals who most need support, including foreign companies with businesses and property who employ people in the UK.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff in his Department reported their religion as Islam in the latest period for which figures are available; what the reported ethnicity of those staff was; and how many of those staff were employed at each grade.
Answered by Simon Clarke
As at the 30th September 2019, 54 civil servants employed by HM Treasury were recorded with Muslim as their self-declared religious group.
The ethnicity breakdown is:
Asian - Bangladeshi 18
- Asian - Indian Fewer than 10
- Asian - Pakistani 15
- Black - African Fewer than 10
- Mixed - Asian and White Fewer than 10
- Other Arab Fewer than 10
- Other Asian background Fewer than 10
- Other Black background Fewer than 10
- Other ethnic background Fewer than 10
- Other Mixed ethnic background Fewer than 10
- Not Known Fewer than 10
The grade breakdown is:
- Range B Fewer than 10
- Range C 15
- Range D 25
- Range E Fewer than 10
- Range E2 Fewer than 10
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information (a) his Department and (b) HM Revenue and Customs holds on the number of UK pensioners who receive state pensions from other EU member states.
Answered by Jane Ellison
HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs do not hold information on pension entitlements administered by other EU countries. Whilst taxpayers need to report such payments, reporting is combined with certain other forms of foreign income, notably payments from foreign private pensions.