Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Public Sector Apprenticeships Target, how many apprentices were employed in his Department in the financial year 2021-22; and what percentage of the total workforce in 2021-2022 were apprentices.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Final figures for apprenticeships in 2021-22 are not yet available. The Cabinet Office, on behalf of the Civil Service, will be publishing a full breakdown of departmental performance on apprenticeships in the Autumn in line with previous years.
Data for all departments between 2017 and 2021 is available on gov.uk and shows the department recruited 84 apprentices, equivalent to 3.2% of headcount during 2020/21.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the regional distribution of measures announced in the 2022 Spring Statement; and if he will place a copy of that assessment in the Library.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Chancellor’s Spring Statement on 23 March 2022 announced a number of measures to support households and businesses in every region and nation of the UK and to relieve the immediate pressure on our cost of living. This includes cutting National Insurance by aligning the Primary Threshold and Lower Profits Limit with the income tax personal allowance from July 2022 – a tax cut worth over £6 billion – and cutting the duty rate on petrol and diesel by 5p per litre for a year, saving the average UK car driver around £100.
It sets out that taxes are being cut, debt is falling and public spending is increasing, for the benefit of every region and nation in the UK.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will produce a table showing Departmental Capital Budget (CDEL) plans in 2021-22, by Government department (a) at the time of the October 2021 Budget and (b) the updated CDEL plans by department at the time of the March 2022 Spring Statement.
Answered by Simon Clarke
At the Spending Review 2021 (SR21), HM Treasury published tables showing departmental Capital (CDEL) budgets, broken down by government department. At the Spring Statement 2022 (SS22), HM Treasury published an updated table of CDEL budgets, also broken down by department.
At SR21, the CDEL table was published as table 1.18 of chapter 1. At SS22, the CDEL table was published as table 1.5 of chapter 1. Both documents are available on the gov.uk website.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will place a copy of the (a) evidence underpinning the decision taken in the 2022 Spring Statement to not make changes to the Enterprise Management Incentive, (b) summary of consultation responses, (c) any commissioned or internal evaluation and (d) any other relevant data or other evidence, in the Library.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government will publish a summary of responses to the Enterprise Management Incentive review once the review has concluded. Any externally commissioned evaluation will be published in the usual way, in line with the Government’s Social Research Publication Protocol.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will place in the Library (a) a list of meetings between him or officials in his Department and representatives of the payroll sector including the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals for (i) 1 January 2022 and (ii) 23 March 2022 and (b) the (A) agendas, (B) attendance notes and (C) minutes of those meetings; and whether discussions were held with representatives of the payroll sector on the timescale and method for implementing changes to National Insurance thresholds and rates.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will place a copy of any interim or final evidence held by his Department on the effectiveness of the Corporation Tax Super-deduction in stimulating business investment, including quantitative data, process or outcome evaluation, in the Library.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
In the latest Economy and Fiscal Outlook, the OBR have said that the super-deduction and the easing of global supply bottlenecks means they still expect historically high growth in business investment over 2022. The OBR have revised down the anticipated peak amount of business investment brought forward by the super-deduction to 5 per cent in 2022-23 (from the 10 per cent previously assumed).
A full evaluation of the effectiveness of the super-deduction in stimulating business investment will require HMRC to hold corporate tax returns for the financial years 2021-22 and 2022-23. Any externally commissioned evaluation will be published in the usual way, in line with the Government Social Research Publication Protocol.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, by how much the Office for Budget Responsibility revised up or down its estimate of the impact of the Corporation Tax Super-deduction on business investment between the October 2021 Economic and Fiscal Outlook and the March 2022 Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
In the latest Economy and Fiscal Outlook, the OBR have said that the super-deduction and the easing of global supply bottlenecks means they still expect historically high growth in business investment over 2022. The OBR have revised down the anticipated peak amount of business investment brought forward by the super-deduction to 5 per cent in 2022-23 (from the 10 per cent previously assumed).
A full evaluation of the effectiveness of the super-deduction in stimulating business investment will require HMRC to hold corporate tax returns for the financial years 2021-22 and 2022-23. Any externally commissioned evaluation will be published in the usual way, in line with the Government Social Research Publication Protocol.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the UK Infrastructure Bank plans to invest in (a) 2021-22, (b) 2022-23, (c) 2023-24 and (d) 2024-25.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The UK Infrastructure Bank launched on 17 June 2021. UKIB has a maximum financial capacity of £22 billion consisting of £12 billion for lending and investment alongside the ability to issue £10 billion of guarantees.
As set out in the Bank’s Framework Document, at an annual level UKIB is able to draw down up to £1.5 billion of equity capital in any given year for the first five years, (up to a £5 billion limit) and is able to borrow up to £1.5 billion a year (up to a £7 billion total borrowing limit). UKIB will also be able to issue up to £10 billion of guarantees overall, with up to £2.5 billion in guarantees in any given year.
The Bank has completed five deals since its launch, totalling £310 million of commitments. Details of deals which have been announced can be found on UKIB’s website. As a new financial institution, and as set out in the UKIB Policy Design paper published at Spring Budget 2021, UKIB will require time to build up and scale up its activity. This will include the publication of a Strategic Plan in June 2022, setting out UKIB’s overall strategy and investment approach within the mandate set by government and including details on investments across the relevant forecast period.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what projection his Department has made of the number of households on the electricity grid in Great Britain in (a) 2022-23, (b) 2023-24, (c) 2024-25, (d) 2025-26, (e) 2027-28 and (f) 2028-29.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Based on ONS Household projects, the number of domestic energy customers is expected to grow by around 200,000 per year up to 2029.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of how much a single household of four people in 2022-23 would receive from the Energy Bill Discount Scheme in that year; and if that household subsequently split into four households of one person each from financial year 2023-24 onward, how much they would be paying in that year and each subsequent year via the increase in standing charge.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In recognition of the increase in energy costs and the impact this will have on households, the government is providing significant financial support – up to £350 – to the majority of households. One element of this is the £200 reduction for every electricity customer in Great Britain delivered via their energy bill this autumn.
We expect households will pay this back from 2023 – when energy prices are expected to be lower - through an increase to standing charges on their bills of around £40 per annum over five years.
This approach is fiscally responsible while also helping customers manage the unprecedented increase in energy bills by spreading the increased costs of global prices over time. The policy will provide a significant reduction to bills this year whilst gas prices are at historic highs.
There will be cases where changes in people’s personal circumstances at the time mean they may not directly be the recipient of the reduction, but still see increases in future bills. The government will look at these issues further through a public consultation run by the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in the spring, but to spread the cost of the reduction as widely as possible, all domestic energy consumers are expected to contribute to future repayments.