Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the aggregate income tax deducted at source by companies from (a) annual payments, (b) interest and (c) alternative finance arrangements at either (i) the basic rate and (ii) a reduced rate in each of the last six financial years.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HMRC does not hold data separately for income tax deducted at source by companies from annual payments, interest and alternative finance arrangements.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people were (a) basic and (b) higher-rate taxpayers in each of the last eight financial years.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Income Tax Liabilities Statistics provide a breakdown of the number of Income Taxpayers by marginal rate of Income Tax between 1990 to 1991 and 2023 to 2024. This information can be found in Table 2.1: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/number-of-individual-income-taxpayers-by-marginal-rate-gender-and-age
Data for the tax years 1990 to 1991 up to and including 2020 to 2021 are outturn based on the Survey of Personal Incomes. Estimates for 2021 to 2022, 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024 are based on the 2019 to 2020 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s March 2023 Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 24 November 2022 on Security Update on Surveillance Equipment, WMS 386, whether they have (a) ceased deployment of visual surveillance systems produced by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China onto sensitive sites, (b) ensured no such equipment is connected to their departmental core network, (c) considered whether there are sites outside the definition of sensitive sites to which they would wish to extend risk mitigation and (d) put in place any additional controls or taken any further steps.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
It is a longstanding Government policy that specific security arrangements regarding Government estates are withheld on security grounds.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to ensure that his policies on tackling inflation help support mortgage holders.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
High inflation is the greatest economic challenge that we must address, which is why the Government has made it a priority to halve inflation this year, on the path back to the 2% target. Monetary policy, including all decisions on Bank Rate, is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England, and they have the Government’s full support as they take action to return inflation back to target.
MPC decisions over Bank Rate guide commercial banks’ decisions over the retail interest rates they charge on loans and pay on deposits. However, banks also make commercial judgements that influence the degree of pass‐through from changes in Bank Rate into retail interest rates, with conditions in financial markets and in the banking sector also influencing interest rates paid on deposits or charged for lending.
Nevertheless, we recognise this will be a concerning time for mortgage borrowers, particularly those who are due to come to the end of their existing deal in the immediate future.
Following the commitments agreed to support borrowers in December, the Chancellor met with mortgage lenders, UK Finance and the Financial Conduct Authority on 23 June. At this meeting, lenders agreed to a new Mortgage Charter to support borrowers struggling with their mortgage payments, which was published on 26 June. This sets out the standards lenders will adopt when helping their customers, including new flexibilities to help customers manage their mortgage payments over a short period. More information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mortgage-charter/mortgage-charter
This is in addition to the measures the Government has already taken aimed at helping people to avoid repossession, including Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans, and protection in the courts through the Pre-Action Protocol.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of trends in the level of interest rates charged by financial companies.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
High inflation is the greatest economic challenge that we must address, which is why the Government has made it a priority to halve inflation this year, on the path back to the 2% target. Monetary policy, including all decisions on Bank Rate, is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England, and they have the Government’s full support as they take action to return inflation back to target.
MPC decisions over Bank Rate guide commercial banks’ decisions over the retail interest rates they charge on loans and pay on deposits. However, banks also make commercial judgements that influence the degree of pass‐through from changes in Bank Rate into retail interest rates, with conditions in financial markets and in the banking sector also influencing interest rates paid on deposits or charged for lending.
Nevertheless, we recognise this will be a concerning time for mortgage borrowers, particularly those who are due to come to the end of their existing deal in the immediate future.
Following the commitments agreed to support borrowers in December, the Chancellor met with mortgage lenders, UK Finance and the Financial Conduct Authority on 23 June. At this meeting, lenders agreed to a new Mortgage Charter to support borrowers struggling with their mortgage payments, which was published on 26 June. This sets out the standards lenders will adopt when helping their customers, including new flexibilities to help customers manage their mortgage payments over a short period. More information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mortgage-charter/mortgage-charter
This is in addition to the measures the Government has already taken aimed at helping people to avoid repossession, including Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans, and protection in the courts through the Pre-Action Protocol.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to strengthen the supply side of the economy.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Despite challenging global economic conditions, the UK economy has outperformed growth expectations, leading to the OECD and the IMF revising up their growth forecasts.
At Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced a package to strengthen the supply side of the economy and boost economic growth by removing the barriers to work and increase labour supply, reforming the UK’s tax system to incentivise business investment and improve productivity, and continuing to work in collaboration with the UK’s high growth industries to regulate more effectively. The Office for Budget Responsibility expects that this package will result in the largest policy-induced permanent increase in UK GDP in their medium-term forecasts.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking steps to support (a) first-time buyers and (b) people who have large capital balances on their mortgages.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The pricing and availability of mortgages is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene. However, the Government remains committed to making the aspiration of homeownership a reality for as many households as possible.
We operate a range of schemes that aim to increase the supply of low-deposit mortgages for credit-worthy households, including first-time buyers, increase the availability of new housing, and stimulate economic growth. The Government also helps first-time buyers to save for a deposit through the Lifetime ISA and Help to Buy: ISA.
We recognise this will be a concerning time for existing mortgage borrowers, particularly those who are due to come to the end of their existing deal in the immediate future.
On 26 June, we – alongside industry and the Financial Conduct Authority – published the Mortgage Charter. This Charter sets out the standards lenders will adopt when helping their customers; signatories will provide borrowers with new flexibilities to manage their mortgage payments over a short period.
This is in addition to the measures the Government has already taken aimed at helping people to avoid repossession, including Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans, and protection in the courts through the Pre-Action Protocol.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to help tackle inflation.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The fiscal steps that are being taken to tackle inflation have been set out in the recent open letter from the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the Governor of the Bank of England.
Further, active policy decisions that reduce inflation this year, including extending the Energy Price Guarantee and maintaining the 5p cut in fuel duty, were set out at Spring Budget 2023.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Bank of England on the impact of interest rate changes on the level of inflation.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
High inflation is the greatest economic challenge that we must address, which is why the Government has made it a priority to halve inflation this year, on the path back to the 2% target. Monetary policy is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England, and they have the Government’s full support as they take action to return inflation back to target.
Consistent with monetary policy independence, the Chancellor has regular meetings with the Governor of the Bank. Open exchange of views in these meetings is critical for the Government and the Bank to understand each other’s views on the outlook for the economy and monetary and fiscal policy, to support policy making in both institutions. These meetings are therefore confidential.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of whether the economy will be in recession in the next 18 months.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Office for Budget Responsibility are the government’s official forecaster, and their most recent forecast shows they do not expect the UK economy to enter recession at any point across the five-year forecast horizon. Additionally, the Treasury’s recent release of the Independent Forecasts for the UK Economy shows no technical recessions expectations for 2023 from 10 out of 11 external forecasters.