Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of pension tax rules have on the (a) working hours and (b) levels of retirement of doctors in the NHS.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Pensions tax relief is one of the most expensive reliefs in the personal tax system. In 2020/21 Income Tax and employer National Insurance Contributions relief cost £67.3 billion. The annual and lifetime allowances help to ensure that the highest earning pension savers do not receive a disproportionate benefit. 99 per cent of pension savers make annual contributions below £40,000, the level of standard annual allowance, while 91 per cent of individuals currently approaching retirement have a pension below the lifetime allowance.
The Government 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. On 22 September, the Government announced it will change elements of the NHS Pension Scheme to help retain doctors, nurses and other senior NHS staff, to increase capacity. These changes include:
At Autumn Statement 2022, the Chancellor announced the Government will introduce measures to support and grow the NHS workforce and improve performance across the health system. To support this the government committed to publishing a comprehensive NHS workforce strategy, including independently verified workforce forecasts, next year.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the Government taking an equity stake in (a) British Airways and (b) other airlines that are domiciled for tax purposes in the UK.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government recognises the challenging times facing the aviation sector as a result of COVID-19 and firms experiencing difficulties as a result of COVID-19 can draw upon the unprecedented package of measures announced by the Chancellor, including schemes to raise capital, flexibilities with tax bills, and financial support for employees.
As the Chancellor set out in his letter to the aviation sector, should individual firms still find themselves in difficulty after exhausting all other options, the Government is prepared to enter negotiations with them as a last resort. Any intervention would need to represent value for money for taxpayers.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the economic benefits of improving the Reading to Gatwick road corridor.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
At Budget, the Chancellor confirmed a record £27.4 billion to improve England’s strategic roads from 2020 to 2025. This funding will help maintain and improve the Reading-Gatwick road corridor, which includes converting part of the M4 to a smart motorway. Highways England will complete work to upgrade the 18 km stretch of the M23 near Gatwick Airport to a smart motorway this year. They are also looking at ways to optimise capacity on the existing M25.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2020 to Question 8391 on Gambling and Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of monies raised by gambling duties to meet the costs to the public purse associated with gambling.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
No assessment has been made. The Government has committed an extra £33.9 billion every year by 2023/24 for the NHS as part of its Long-term plan, which has been enshrined in law.
The NHS Long-term plan includes a commitment to expand the coverage of NHS services for people with serious gambling problems, which includes plans to open around 15 clinics by 2023/24.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on (a) the cost to the NHS of treating (i) addiction to gambling and (ii) gambling-related harm and (b) the proportion of that cost that is accrued to the public purse through taxation on gambling.
Answered by Simon Clarke
In line with successive administrations, the details of Ministerial discussions are not normally disclosed.
Gambling Duties raise around £3bn in revenue for the Exchequer per year. As is the case with taxes in general, the revenue raised goes into the consolidated fund.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of households with a single-earner income of over £50,000 in (a) North East Hampshire constituency and (b) the UK; and if he will make it his policy to support those households through the tax system.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The number of households with a single-earner income of over £50,000 is based on Department for Work and Pensions analysis of Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data sourced from the 2017-18 Family Resources Survey (FRS).
The survey sample sizes are too small to produce robust estimates at local authority or constituency level. The Department for Work and Pensions estimate that in the UK in 2017-18 there were 2.7m households with one person earning over £50,000 per year from employment (either as an employee or self-employed). Of these, 700,000 households contained only one person in employment.
The Government has made substantial increases to the personal allowance and higher rate threshold in recent years. In April 2019, the Government increased the personal allowance to £12,500 and the higher rate threshold to £50,000. This ensured that nearly one million fewer people pay the higher rate of tax compared to 2015-16 and that a typical higher rate taxpayer pays over £1,800 less income tax than in 2010-11.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to help people who are ready to move up the housing ladder from their first property.
Answered by Jesse Norman
At Autumn Statement 2014 the government reformed SDLT on residential properties, cutting the tax for 98% of buyers who pay it, unless they are purchasing additional property. These changes benefit those who are moving up the housing ladder.
The Government has already committed significant financial support for housing, with at least £44bn over a five-year period announced at Autumn Budget 2017, supporting its ambition to increase supply to 300,000 homes per annum on average by the mid-2020s to improve affordability, and to increase home ownership.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to help those who are ready to move on from their first property to move up the housing ladder.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
At Autumn Statement 2014 the government reformed SDLT on residential properties, cutting the tax for 98% of buyers who pay it, unless they are purchasing additional property. These changes benefit those who are moving up the housing ladder.
However, the government’s priority remains helping first time buyers because this group are particularly cash constrained. So far, over 240,000 people have benefited from the Stamp Duty relief announced for first time buyers at Autumn Budget 2017.
In all, the government are providing at least £44 billion in financial support for housing over a five-year period to help improve affordability and support homeownership.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the £1.5 billion allocated for Equitable Life compensation, what proportion of that sum has been paid out; and what the reasons are for the amount that has not yet been paid out.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Equitable Life Payment Scheme published a final report in 2016 which set out the details of payments made and how the remaining funds will be allocated. A copy can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equitable-life-payment-scheme-final-report
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to increase the marriage allowance.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Every time the personal allowance increases, the marriage allowance automatically becomes more generous.
The increase to personal allowance to £12,500 means that, from April this year, eligible couples will be able to transfer £1,250, compared to £1,060 in 2015-16.
This means that in 2019-20, eligible couples can receive a tax reduction of up to £250, or £1,150 if they make a backdated claim to 2015-16.