Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of removing VAT on period pants.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The women’s sanitary products VAT zero rate applies to those products which were previously subject to the reduced rate of 5 per cent, for example, tampons and pads. It also applies to reusable menstrual products, such as menstrual cups, to provide greater choice and more sustainable options for those who use sanitary products. The Government is looking into whether this important zero-rating is being passed on to consumers.
The relief does not include articles of clothing, such as period underwear. Such exclusions are designed to ensure that the relief is properly targeted.
The Government keeps all taxes under review, including considering impacts on pricing, and welcomes representations to help inform future policy decisions.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his oral contribution of 20 June 2023, Official Report, column 694, what the evidential basis is for not accepting the findings of the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Recent food inflation in the UK has been driven by a range of factors. Domestic agricultural commodity prices increased due to increases in international commodity prices and changes in exchange rates and in particular the strength of the dollar. Alongside this there was an increase in food manufacturing costs and particularly energy costs, which also contributed to food inflation. These factors are the main reasons for recent high food inflation, as shown by the fact that other countries in Europe have experienced similar levels of food inflation.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of compelling banks to increase interest rate payments on savings accounts in line with changes to the base rate.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to ensuring people are supported to save, and that they can access a wide range of competitive savings products. The retail savings market currently offers a range of competitive options to savers, who can now access the highest rates in recent years on a variety of instant access and fixed-term products. I would encourage savers to explore the full range of products available in the market to find the best rates.
However, the pricing and provision of financial products (including savings accounts), is a commercial decision for banks and building societies and the Government does not seek to intervene in such decisions. The Bank of England’s independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) sets the base rate of interest, known as the Bank Rate, to achieve its primary objective of maintaining price stability. MPC decisions over Bank Rate guide commercial banks’ decisions over the retail interest rates they charge on loans and pay on deposits.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to encourage consumers to switch their savings accounts to benefit from high interest alternatives.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to ensuring people are supported to save, and that they can access a wide range of competitive savings products. The retail savings market currently offers a range of competitive options to savers, who can now access the highest rates in recent years on a variety of instant access and fixed-term products. I would encourage savers to explore the full range of products available in the market to find the best rates.
However, the pricing and provision of financial products (including savings accounts), is a commercial decision for banks and building societies and the Government does not seek to intervene in such decisions. The Bank of England’s independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) sets the base rate of interest, known as the Bank Rate, to achieve its primary objective of maintaining price stability. MPC decisions over Bank Rate guide commercial banks’ decisions over the retail interest rates they charge on loans and pay on deposits.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the increased Orchestral Tax Relief beyond April 2023.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government recognises the value of the UK’s world leading creative industries and arts sectors.
Since orchestra tax relief (OTR) was introduced in 2016, £62 million has been paid out in support of 2,640 productions as of the year 2021-2022.
At Autumn Budget 2021, the Government temporarily increased the headline rate of OTR in recognition of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the sectors.
The Government acknowledges the concerns of industry about the upcoming taper of the rate in April, and will keep this under review.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to strengthen the regulation of commodity markets to promote (a) stability and (b) transparency.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government believes effective commodities markets regulation is key to ensure economic stability. This is the lesson we have learned from the 2000s food and financial crises and the Government remains committed to the G20 recommendations that sought to uphold that.
Through the Financial Services and Markets Bill, the Government is making changes to the regime which we have inherited from the EU, which is overly complicated and poorly designed. For example, to ensure that the regime is calibrated effectively, the Bill delegates the setting of position limits from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to trading venues, who are well placed to ensure that it only applies to contracts that are subject to high volatility. The FCA will also retain its ability to directly intervene if need be. This will ensure that speculation in agricultural and physically settled contracts such as oil and gas does not lead to economic harm.
The Government is also using the Financial Services and Markets Bill to improve the transparency regime for commodity derivatives. The regime that we have inherited from the EU was designed for equity markets and as such does not take into account the inherent differences between these two markets. The FCA will be given responsibility for creating a more tailored regime that improves transparency and recognises the diverse nature of our markets.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment has he made of the potential impact on tax revenues of a pay-as-you-drive model of vehicle taxation.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
All taxes remain under review. Any changes are considered and announced by the Chancellor at fiscal events.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of creating a tax-unregistered pension scheme for consultants on the retention of experienced consultants in the NHS.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government values the extraordinary work being done by NHS staff. In recognition of this vital work, the NHS Pension Scheme is one of the most generous schemes available. In addition, the existing tax relief offered on pension contributions is expensive, costing the Exchequer £67.3 billion in 2020/21, with around 58 per cent relieved at the Higher and Additional rates. A tax unregistered scheme would primarily benefit NHS staff affected by the annual and lifetime allowances, who are the highest-earning savers in the NHS pension scheme.
The Government has listened carefully to the concerns of NHS staff and is committed to ensuring that hard-working NHS staff do not find themselves reducing their work commitments due to the interaction between their pay, their pension and the relevant tax regime. That is why, on 22 September the Government announced changes to the NHS Pension Scheme. These include changing pension rules regarding inflation, encouraging NHS Trusts to offer pension recycling and implementing permanent retirement flexibilities to support workforce retention. The Government continues to keep all areas of the tax system under review.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterpart in Malawi on reform of the 1955 UK-Malawi Double Taxation Agreement and associated protocols.
Answered by Richard Fuller
HMRC regularly engages with other countries on matters relating to double taxation agreements (DTAs), including negotiating new DTAs, updating existing DTAs and discussing issues with the application of DTAs with our treaty partners.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of imposing on financial services firms a general duty of care towards their consumers.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to ensuring that consumers of financial services are appropriately protected whilst preserving the competitiveness of the UK financial services sector.
The Financial Services Act 2021 required the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to consult on whether it should make rules giving regulated financial service providers a duty of care over their customers. This was in response to concerns from Parliamentarians, who wanted to reduce levels of consumer harm in financial services.
Following extensive engagement with stakeholders, the FCA published a final Policy Statement on 27 July 2022 on its new Consumer Duty. The Consumer Duty will clarify and raise expectations for the standard of care that should be provided by financial services firms to consumers, and ensure consumers benefit from a higher level of care from financial services firms.
The FCA, as an operationally independent regulator, is responsible for implementing and enforcing its Consumer Duty rules. It would not be appropriate for the government to comment on the specific rules introduced by the FCA.