Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has had recent discussions with the food and drink wholesale sector on the classification of wholesale premises as online retail warehouses in the Transforming Business Rates Policy Paper; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of this classification on the sector.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
HM Treasury releases a quarterly record of Ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations. This can be found online: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel.
The Transforming Business Rates Discussion Paper, published by the Government at the Autumn Budget, set out that we are creating a fairer business rates system that protects the high-street, supports investment, and is fit for the 21st century.
To deliver our manifesto pledge, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for high street retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, with rateable values below £500,000, from 2026-27.
This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so the Government intends to apply a higher rate from 2026-27 on the most valuable properties - those with a Rateable Value of £500,000 and above. These represent less than one per cent of all properties, but include the majority of large distribution warehouses, including those used by online giants.
The rates for any new business rate multipliers will be set at Budget 2025 so that the Government can take into account the upcoming revaluation outcomes as well as the economic and fiscal context. The statutory definition for qualifying RHL properties will be set out in regulations ahead of implementation in the 2026-27 financial year.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department's publication entitled HMT ministers’ overseas travel, published on 21 March 2024, how much of the £15,991 spent on his visit to the USA from 20 to 22 October 2023 was spent on air travel.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Government publishes details of Ministerial travel on GOV.UK. As has been the case under successive administrations, the Government does not publish granular detail on Ministers' travel either at home or abroad.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many visits were made by (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) each Minister in his Department to a (i) Government Hub and (ii) ministerial office outside of London in (A) 2022 and (B) 2023.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The information requested is not centrally collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will meet with the Federation of Wholesale Distributors to discuss the extension of Business Rates Relief to food service wholesalers.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government has been in contact with the Federation of Wholesale Distributors and understands the impact that COVID-19 has had on businesses in the sector.
This year the Government has provided an unprecedented business rates holiday for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties due to the direct adverse effects of COVID-19, worth about £10 billion, and has frozen the business rates multiplier for all businesses for 2021-22.
The Government has provided various schemes to support firms, including wholesalers, including Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans, Bounce Back Loans, grants and VAT deferrals.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the eligibility of wholesalers for Local Authority Discretionary Funds.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Treasury has engaged closely with other Departments, including the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government throughout the design and implementation of grant support for businesses.
Local authorities in England have received £1.6 billion of discretionary funding through the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) to support their local economies and help businesses impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. This funding is for additional business support, to complement the Local Restrictions Support Grant for closed businesses.
We encourage local authorities to use their ARG allocations to set up a discretionary grant scheme using this funding for those businesses who are affected by closures, but which are not legally closed themselves, such as wholesalers. However, local authorities run the application schemes for the ARG, and will have significant discretion when it comes to deciding which businesses receive payments. Businesses should contact their local authorities for more information.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much revenue has been raised from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy in 2020-21 to date; and which programmes and organisations have received funding as a result of that revenue.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
HMRC’s October publication of receipts for the year to date shows that the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) has provisionally raised £223m in revenue in 2020-21. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk
There is no formal link between SDIL revenues and individual programmes. However, the Government will continue to invest in supporting public health and tackling obesity, including the Department for Education’s primary sports premium.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much and what proportion of the 2020-21 education budget that resulted from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy will be passed on to departmental budgets for investment in children's health initiatives as part of the 2021-22 Spending Round.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
In 2016 the government announced investment in a number of children’s health initiatives alongside the introduction of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy, including doubling the primary sports premium to £320m a year from September 2017, and introducing the National Schools Breakfast Programme from March 2018.
Spending Review 2020 has now concluded and confirmed the Department for Education’s overall budget for 2021-22. The DfE will confirm funding from within that settlement allocated to these schools programmes in 21-22 in due course.