Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Vehicle Excise Duty proposals in the Summer Budget 2015 on the second hand market for (a) zero and (b) low emission vehicles.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The updated CO2 banding in first year rates in the new VED system strengthens the incentive to purchase the cleanest cars including hybrid and plug-in vehicles. Hybrid and plug-in vehicles will also continue to be supported by beneficial rates of Company Car Tax.
The premium car supplement will apply to all cars with a list price above £40,000, including zero and low emission vehicles. The supplement applies for the first five years in which the standard rate is paid. Zero-emission cars with a list price below £40,000 will pay no VED for the lifetime of the car.
The new VED system is not expected to have significant effects on the second-hand car market for zero- or low-emission cars. The reformed VED system will apply to cars first registered from 1 April 2017, so cars in the new system are unlikely to enter the second-hand car market in large numbers until the 2020’s.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many families in Birmingham, Northfield constituency are in receipt of tax credits.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The information is available on the publication ‘Personal tax credits: Finalised award statistics - geographical statistics’ available on the GOV.UK website here:
gov.uk/government/collections/personal-tax-credits-statistics.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of tax credits on working families with children.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Working Tax Credit provides financial support to those families on low incomes and Child Tax Credit assists families on low or no income with the additional costs of raising children.
As the Chancellor set out in the Summer Budget, this Government is making changes to tax credits to put welfare spending on a more sustainable path and to ensure that support is focused on those who need it most.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the cost and benefits of (a) converting Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) into a network of local stakeholder banks, (b) breaking up RBS into a series of challenger banks, (c) converting RBS into a state-owned business bank and (d) other options for the future of RBS considered by his Department; and if he will place a copy of any such assessments in the Library.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Government has been consistent and clear that its objective in respect of RBS ownership is to return the bank to the private sector in full.
This policy is supported by recent advice from the Governor of the Bank of England that “it is in the public interest for the Government to begin now to return RBS to the private sector”, and that “there could be considerable net costs to taxpayers of further delaying the start of a sale”. The findings of the recently published Rothschild report into the Government’s shareholding in RBS concur with this assessment.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 1 June 2015 to Question 4, what the reason was for the size of the reduction in the percentage of calls handled by HM Revenue and Customs contact centres within five minutes in the first two quarters of 2015.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) handles 50 million calls a year from customers. The department is working hard to improve its performance. The percentage of calls handled will fluctuate annually and quarterly and is directly affected by customer demand.
HMRC has taken a number of steps including the introduction of a new telephony platform that will improve performance in the longer term. HMRC has recruited more than 2,000 staff to its customer service teams and is expanding the resource available at evenings and weekends when many customers choose to call. They have also launched an online service for Tax Credit customers that will enable them to renew their claims without calling at all and, as in previous years, are moving up to 1,500 extra staff from across the department to support the Tax Credits peak in demand.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 1 June 2015 to Question 4, what steps he is taking to increase the proportion of calls handled by HM Revenue and Customs' Contact Centre within five minutes.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) handles 50 million calls a year from customers. The department is working hard to improve its performance. The percentage of calls handled will fluctuate annually and quarterly and is directly affected by customer demand.
HMRC has taken a number of steps including the introduction of a new telephony platform that will improve performance in the longer term. HMRC has recruited more than 2,000 staff to its customer service teams and is expanding the resource available at evenings and weekends when many customers choose to call. They have also launched an online service for Tax Credit customers that will enable them to renew their claims without calling at all and, as in previous years, are moving up to 1,500 extra staff from across the department to support the Tax Credits peak in demand.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the efficiency of call-handling by HM Revenue and Customs.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) constantly monitors call handling performance and assesses its quality. In 2014/15, our advisers achieved a score of 97.1% for correctness of transaction, against a 95% target.
HMRC also carries out a quarterly customer survey to determine how well we are performing against certain criteria. The results are published quarterly on GOV.UK:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-plan-indicators
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the efficiency of the telephone service provided by HM Revenue and Customs; and what representations he has received about that service.
Answered by David Gauke
Details of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) telephony performance, including average waiting time, is published quarterly on the GOV.UK website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-plan-indicators
HMRC has performance targets which are regularly monitored. The department is working very hard to improve its service, including reducing demand and opening new online channels for customers so they do not need to pick up to phone.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has to review the spending commitments in the Road Investment Strategy 2015-20.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Road Investment Strategy, published at the time of the 2014 Autumn Statement, set out ambitious plans for improvements to the national road network between 2015 and 2020. The road network is a critical national infrastructure asset that is vital for successful economic growth, supporting jobs and productivity. This is why this Government made a clear commitment in its manifesto to invest £15 billion in roads, and the Prime Minister has made clear that the Government will implement its manifesto in full.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average waiting time was for calls to HM Revenue and Customs telephone service in each year for which figures are available.
Answered by David Gauke
Details of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) telephony performance, including average waiting time, is published quarterly on the GOV.UK website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-plan-indicators
HMRC has performance targets which are regularly monitored. The department is working very hard to improve its service, including reducing demand and opening new online channels for customers so they do not need to pick up to phone.