Asked by: Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress he has made to date on negotiating with the European institutions for permission to apply a zero-rate of VAT on women's sanitary products.
Answered by David Gauke
I have written to the European Commission and other Member States setting out our strong view that Member States should have full discretion over what rate of VAT they can apply to these products, and that this should be considered in the context of the Commission’s Action Plan on VAT.
Asked by: Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.144 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, how much of the £15 million annual VAT revenue from female sanitary products has been (a) spent to date and (b) allocated for future spending; by what process the recipients of those funds are determined; and whether he plans a further round of allocations for financial year 2016-17.
Answered by David Gauke
Initial donations from the sanitary products VAT women’s charities fund totalling £5 million have been made to support The Eve Appeal, SafeLives and Women’s Aid, and The Haven. Further donations and recipients will be announced at Budget 2016, and at future fiscal events. The £15 million annual fund will continue to run over the course of this Parliament or until the UK can apply a zero rate of VAT on sanitary products.
Charities interested in applying should email the Treasury directly at Tampontax.Fund@hmtreasury.gsi.gov.uk stating their interest in the fund, including an overview of the nature of their proposal and the amount they are requesting. Following this they will be given further details of the bidding process and the detailed information required.
Asked by: Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.114 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what the evidential basis for the estimate of £15 million annual tax receipt on sanitary products; and to what range of products that estimate applies.
Answered by David Gauke
The £15m estimate of the annual VAT revenue from sanitary products is produced by HM Revenue and Customs and is consistent with the published estimate of the cost of the current 5% relief for sanitary products (available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/minor-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs ).
Asked by: Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.251 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what the 26 new Enterprise Zones are; and which local enterprise partnerships made unsuccessful applications to become enterprise zones.
Answered by David Gauke
The full list of successful Enterprise Zones, which is available to view online, was published by the Department of Communities and Local Government following the Spending Review announcement.