Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding has been raised by the apprenticeship levy in each of the last 7 years.
Answered by Richard Fuller - Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Apprenticeship Levy was introduced in April 2017. Monthly receipts data for the Apprenticeship Levy is published by HM Revenue and Customs in their Tax and NIC Receipts publication which can be found online at:
HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
A condensed version of the table of interest shows how much funding has been raised by the Apprenticeship Levy in each year since it was introduced in financial year 2017/18:
Table: HMRC Receipts for Apprenticeship Levy by Financial Year
Financial Year | Apprenticeship Levy (£ million) |
2017 to 2018 | 2,271 |
2018 to 2019 | 2,713 |
2019 to 2020 | 2,798 |
2020 to 2021 | 2,910 |
2021 to 2022 | 3,213 |
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of reducing the differences between tax rates for different categories of alcohol and applying one basic rate per litre of pure alcohol to all categories of drinks, in order to simplify and standardise the alcohol duty system.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Government believes that the reforms announced at Autumn Budget 2021 will achieve a duty system that is simpler, fairer and better supports public health in the round.
There will be one duty band for all products between 8.5%-22% ABV based on their alcohol content. This simplifies the existing system by eliminating the different duty rates for still wines, sparkling wines, spirit-based liqueurs and stronger beers, and replacing them with a single rate.
In principle, the Government considers it is right to tax higher strength products a higher rate of duty per unit. Introducing one basic rate per litre of pure alcohol would fail to target higher strength products. As set out in the summary of responses published in October 2021, public health groups and economists have cited a link between cheap, high strength spirits (such as vodka) and alcohol-related harms, as the volume of drink needed to reach intoxication is smaller with higher strength drinks.
The Treasury is continuing to engage with other Government departments and interested stakeholders on these reforms. A consultation ran from 27 October 2021 to 30 January 2022, and the Treasury is now analysing the responses. Further updates will be provided in due course.Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of whether the 27 new bands of taxation on wine in the proposed alcohol duty reforms will result in a simplification of the existing alcohol duty system.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Government believes that the reforms announced at Autumn Budget 2021 will achieve a duty system that is simpler, fairer and better supports public health in the round.
There will be one duty band for all products between 8.5%-22% ABV based on their alcohol content. This simplifies the existing system by eliminating the different duty rates for still wines, sparkling wines, spirit-based liqueurs and stronger beers, and replacing them with a single rate.
In principle, the Government considers it is right to tax higher strength products a higher rate of duty per unit. Introducing one basic rate per litre of pure alcohol would fail to target higher strength products. As set out in the summary of responses published in October 2021, public health groups and economists have cited a link between cheap, high strength spirits (such as vodka) and alcohol-related harms, as the volume of drink needed to reach intoxication is smaller with higher strength drinks.
The Treasury is continuing to engage with other Government departments and interested stakeholders on these reforms. A consultation ran from 27 October 2021 to 30 January 2022, and the Treasury is now analysing the responses. Further updates will be provided in due course.Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the impact of the proposed alcohol duty reforms on wine businesses and consumers, as compared to beer or cider drinkers.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Government believes that the reforms announced at Autumn Budget 2021 will achieve a duty system that is simpler, fairer and better supports public health in the round.
There will be one duty band for all products between 8.5%-22% ABV based on their alcohol content. This simplifies the existing system by eliminating the different duty rates for still wines, sparkling wines, spirit-based liqueurs and stronger beers, and replacing them with a single rate.
In principle, the Government considers it is right to tax higher strength products a higher rate of duty per unit. Introducing one basic rate per litre of pure alcohol would fail to target higher strength products. As set out in the summary of responses published in October 2021, public health groups and economists have cited a link between cheap, high strength spirits (such as vodka) and alcohol-related harms, as the volume of drink needed to reach intoxication is smaller with higher strength drinks.
The Treasury is continuing to engage with other Government departments and interested stakeholders on these reforms. A consultation ran from 27 October 2021 to 30 January 2022, and the Treasury is now analysing the responses. Further updates will be provided in due course.Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether an Equality Impact Assessment was carried out by his Department on the proposals set out in the Alcohol Duty Review.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The completion and publication of formal Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) documents is not a legal or procedural requirement. However, equality impacts are appropriately assessed and explained to ministers throughout the policymaking process.
Treasury Ministers carefully considered the equalities impacts of the reforms to alcohol duties and had due regard to the public sector equality duty when making decisions.
Further information on the equalities implications of the alcohol duty reforms will be published in a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) when the policy is final, or near final, in the usual way.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support businesses that have not sufficiently recovered from the impact of the covid-19 pandemic to be able to afford repayments on their Bounce Back Loans, even after they have taken advantage of the six month repayment holiday.
Answered by John Glen
Any business concerned about repayments should get in touch with their lender who will be able to provide support and talk them through their options.
In order to give businesses who have borrowed under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme further support and flexibility in making their repayments, the Chancellor announced “Pay as You Grow” (PAYG) options in September 2020. In addition to the six month full repayment holiday, PAYG gives businesses the option to extend their Bounce Back Loan repayments over ten years, reducing their average monthly repayments on the loan by almost half. Businesses also have the option to move to interest-only payments for periods of up to six months (an option which they can use up to three times). If borrowers want to take advantage of these options, they should notify their lender.