Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of publishing company car tax rates on battery electric cars beyond the the 2024-2025 tax year.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Like all taxes, benefit-in-kind tax rates for company cars, also known as Company Car Tax (CCT), are kept under review. The Government aims to announce CCT rates at least two years ahead of implementation to provide certainty for employers, employees and fleet operators.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of temporarily limiting the ability of private creditors to sue for debt recovery for low-income countries.
Answered by John Glen
The Government is fully focused on ensuring that the private sector provides debt relief for low-income countries where this is required as part of an internationally agreed debt treatment. For example, under the Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the DSSI, private sector participation on at least as favourable terms as bilateral creditors is a fundamental principle. The G20, including the UK, has repeatedly emphasised the importance of this principle.
The Government does not currently have any intention to pursue a legislative approach that would force private lenders to participate in debt relief initiatives. Any legislative approach would need to address a number of challenges. For example, legislating may increase the cost of finance for low-income countries or reduce the availability of finance to meet wider development goals.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing additional financial support to unpaid carers.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Government recognises the challenges that some carers are facing due to the rising cost of living and values the vital contribution made by carers to society. That is why millions of the most vulnerable households, including carers, will receive at least £1,200 of one-off support in total this year to help with the cost of living. Nearly 60% of the 1 million working age Carer’s Allowance recipients receive a means-tested benefit, a disability benefit, or both and will therefore benefit from one or both of the £650 Means-Tested Benefit Cost of Living Payment and the £150 disability Cost of Living Payment. Carers with a pensioner in the household will benefit from an extra £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment and carers will benefit from the £400 per household universal support provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
Previously announced measures to help people tackle the cost of living will also benefit carers, including cuts to the Universal Credit (UC) taper rate, frozen alcohol duty and fuel duty, raising the NICs threshold, council tax rebates and the rise in the National Living Wage to £9.50 an hour.
For carers that are not eligible for Cost of Living Payments or for those that still need additional support, the government is providing an extra £500 million of local support, via the Household Support Fund. The Fund will be extended from this October to March 2023, bringing total funding for the scheme to £1.5 billion.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when any Minister in his Department last held a meeting with representatives of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign; and when they next intend to do so.
Answered by Simon Clarke
HM Treasury does not hold records of any recent meetings ministers have held with representatives of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign. There are currently no confirmed dates for such a meeting.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to help ensure the National Savings and Investments website is compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines; and what his Department's timetable and plan is for meeting that compliance.
Answered by John Glen
The National Savings & Investments’ (NS&I) website is designed to be used by as many people as possible. NS&I uses the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines to test how accessible its websites and mobile applications are, as well as the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) approach to decide on a sample of web pages to test.
NS&I website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. NS&I is working hard to address areas that do not meet this standard. NS&I has recently worked with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to identify the changes required for full compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. The changes recommended by EHRC were implemented on 22 May 2022, and further changes are expected to be made in June 2022.
NS&I is currently procuring a new outsourced service delivery partner and it is expected that its website and mobile apps will be fully compliant by 2024 with regular reviews throughout.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the minimum wage for licensed security workers.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The minimum wage applies to all sectors of the UK economy, including the security industry. Each year, the independent Low Pay Commission (LPC) produces recommendations to the Government on the National Living and Minimum Wage rates. The LPC draws on labour market and pay analysis and stakeholder evidence from business, employee and academic communities when recommending rates.
The Government has accepted the LPC’s recommendations on the main rates and on 1 April 2022, increased the NLW by 6.6% to £9.50 an hour for workers aged 23 and over. This is consistent with the Government’s target for the NLW to reach two-third of median earnings by 2024.
We encourage employers to pay their workers more than the statutory minimum where they can afford to, but recognise the ability to do so will vary across businesses and sectors. It is for the individual employer to set wages, hours, and other such terms of employment.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of removing VAT on (a) fire door sets and (b) work undertaken to fit those doors.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The supply of fire safety equipment, under qualifying circumstances, is already eligible for VAT relief when provided alongside the construction and renovation of residential or charitable buildings.
Although all taxes are kept under constant review, the Government has no plans to expand these reliefs further.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what further steps he plans to take to help support average to low-income households with fuel costs.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The government understands that many households are facing additional pressure on their finances due to higher fuel and energy costs. At Spring Statement, the Chancellor announced significant steps that will help low-income households with the cost of living. These measures ensure work pays and help people keep more of what they earn to provide support through the challenge ahead:
These measures follow the £9.1 billion package announced in February 2022 to help households with rising energy bills this year, the expansion of the Warm Homes Discount to 3 million households and £3bn confirmed supported for households to improve their energy efficiency since 2021.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of removing VAT on reusable period underwear.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
A zero rate of VAT has applied to Women’s Sanitary Products since 1 January 2021 and applies to those products which were previously subject to the reduced rate of 5 per cent.
The relief specifically excludes articles of clothing, including “period pants”. Such exclusions are designed to ensure that the relief is properly targeted, since difficulties in policing the scope of the relief create the potential for litigation, erosion of the tax base, and a reduction in revenue. Under existing rules “period pants” may already qualify for the zero rate if they have been specifically designed to be worn by a child, meet the sizing criteria, and are for sale specifically for use by girls under the age of 14 years old.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to improve the National Savings and Investments website's accessibility for blind users of that website.
Answered by John Glen
NS&I’s website is designed to be used by as many people as possible, including users with visual impairments. NS&I uses the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines to test how accessible its websites and mobile applications are, as well as the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) approach to decide on a sample of web pages to test
NS&I’s websites and mobile applications are currently partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. NS&I is working hard to address areas that do not meet this standard. NS&I is also making improvements to two-factor authentication on its website. As part of making these changes, NS&I conducted accessibility testing with users, including those with visual impairments, and implemented additional accessibility support measures.
If a customer with a visual impairment requires information on the website in a different format such as large print, audio recording or braille, then they can contact NS&I’s call centre teams for assistance.