Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he made an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of increasing funding for local government in the Spring Budget 2024.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
The Chancellor and Chief Secretary hold regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on spending priorities for fiscal events.
Local councils play an essential role in the fabric of our country – providing services which we all rely on and supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.
That is why the final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2024-25 makes available up to £64.7 billion in total for local authorities in England, which includes the £600 million of additional measures that was announced on 24 January in response to representations from local government stakeholders. This is an increase in overall Core Spending Power of 7.5%, or up to £4.5 billion, on 2023-24, an above-inflation increase.
The Government is continuing to support all councils by providing a sector-wide Funding Guarantee, ensuring all local authorities see a minimum 4% increase in Core Spending Power before local council tax decisions.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he made an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of increasing funding for (a) social care and (b) the Better Care Fund in the Spring Budget 2024.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
The Chancellor and Chief Secretary hold regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on spending priorities for fiscal events.
The government has now made available up to £8.6bn in additional funding over this financial year and next to support adult social care and discharge. This includes £500m announced in January which has specifically been made available to support local authorities with the cost of social care in 2024-25 in response to representations from local government stakeholders. This funding will enable local authorities to buy more care packages, help people leave hospital on time, improve workforce recruitment and retention, and reduce waiting times for care.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the (a) Public Sector Productivity Programme and (b) NHS productivity plan.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
The government published detail on the Public Sector Productivity Programme in the Spring Budget. This included the announcement of £4.2 billion to drive productivity in the NHS and the wider public sector, and a separate document, Seizing the Opportunity, that outlined work to date across government to improve efficiency and productivity in counter-fraud, procurement, project management, asset management and digital transformation.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Spring Budget 2024, HC 560, published on 6 March 2024, whether he made an assessment with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care of the potential impact of freezing alcohol duty on public health.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
Treasury ministers and officials regularly engage with the Department of Health and Social Care on a variety of issues, including alcohol policy.
The Treasury also engaged extensively with external stakeholders and other Government departments, including the Department of Health and Social Care, as part of the policy development and delivery process for the new alcohol reforms.
The Government has delivered on its commitment to review the outdated and complex alcohol duty system and introduced the biggest reform of alcohol duties for over 140 years. From 1 August 2023, all alcoholic products are now taxed by strength.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle the trade in illicit vapes, in the context of the introduction of duties on vapes at the Spring Budget 2024.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
Proposals for a Vaping Products Duty which will come in force from October 2026 are set out in the consultation here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/vaping-products-duty-consultation
These include measures to tackle non-compliance, including:
HMRC will collaborate and share intelligence with agencies such as Border Force and Trading Standards, who will have enhanced their capabilities around vaping by the time the duty is introduced.
HMRC also intends to recruit operational staff to enforce the duty, integrating with existing tobacco compliance teams and building on HMRC’s recent success in driving down the tobacco tax gap. This success includes reducing the illicit trade for hand-rolling tobacco from 65.2% in 2005 to 33.5% in 2021/22 and for cigarettes from 16.9% to 11% over the same period.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department takes to ensure that the positive financial impact of measures in the Budget is equally experienced by people (a) with and (b) without protected characteristics.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
When developing policy, including at Spring Budget 2024, the Treasury carefully considers the impact of its decisions on those sharing any of the nine protected characteristics, including sex, race, disability and age, in line with its statutory obligations and strong commitment to promoting fairness.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of reductions in national insurance on (a) public services and (b) investment in business.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
National Insurance cuts are part of the Government’s long-term plan to grow the economy.
By taking a disciplined approach to public spending, driving productivity in the public sector, and ensuring our tax system is balanced and fair; the government can continue cutting taxes responsibly, while ensuring public finances continue to be managed sustainably.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help close the gender pay gap.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
HMT published its 2022/23 Gender Pay Gap Report in November 2023 (HM Treasury’s Gender Pay Gap Report 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk))
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of using gender budgeting for his fiscal policies.
Answered by Bim Afolami
In developing proposals for fiscal events, the Treasury takes care to consider the equality impacts on those sharing any of the nine protected characteristics, including gender, in line with both our legal obligations and this government’s strong commitment to promoting fairness.
We go beyond our legal requirements by publishing a summary of equality impacts for tax measures within in the Tax Information and Impact Notes (TIINs) alongside the Finance Bill.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing business rate relief to premises which are transitioning to reached energy performance certification levels of C and above.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
At Autumn Budget 2021, the government announced new business rates support for green technology to support the decarbonisation of buildings. This means that eligible plant and machinery used in onsite renewable energy generation and electricity storage are now exempt from business rates. This came into effect on 1 April 2022, and will last until 2035. Furthermore, to incentivise businesses investing in their properties, from 1 April 2024, no business will face higher business rates bills as a result of qualifying improvements to a property they occupy for 12 months.