Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the national living wage on charities who are not subject to corporation tax in the (a) care home and (b) heritage sector.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The introduction of the National Living Wage marked an important step towards building an economy that works for everyone. It ensures that low-wage workers are fairly rewarded for their contribution to a growing economy. At £7.20, it is a 50p increase on the National Minimum Wage and means a pay rise for over a million workers aged 25 and over across the UK.
The Government’s assessment of the effects of the National Living Wage is contained within the published impact assessment, which is available at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2016/9780111141625/impacts/2016/3.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many prosecutions there have been for tobacco smuggling in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Jane Ellison
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) does not break down statistics for tobacco prosecutions to separate out those solely resulting from smuggling activity. Total prosecutions for tobacco offences for the last complete five years for which figures are available were as follows:
Financial Year | Convictions | Acquittals | Total Prosecutions (Convictions + Acquittals) |
2011/12 | 156 | 9 | 165 |
2012/13 | 159 | 10 | 169 |
2013/14 | 261 | 15 | 276 |
2014/15 | 237 | 26 | 263 |
2015/16 | 268 | 26 | 294 |
The figures for previous years are not available, as they belong to the prosecuting authorities and are not on a comparable basis.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the surplus/deficit in the National Insurance Fund is.
Answered by Jane Ellison
There are two separate National Insurance Funds (NIF) one for Great Britain and a significantly smaller Northern Ireland Fund.
The balance on the GB NIF as at 31 March 2015 was £20.9bn and the Northern Ireland NIF was £0.5bn. These balance can be found in the accounts which were published on 29 October 2015, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-insurance-fund-accounts.
The NIF accounts for the year ending 31 March 2016 are currently in the process of being audited prior to publication.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Members for East Worthing and Shoreham and Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle on the British Mercantile Marine Memorial Collection which was sent on 28 October 2015 and resent on 5 January 2016.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I replied to the Hon. Member on 19 November 2015. A copy of my reply has been resent.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what contingency arrangements his Department has made for the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the upcoming EU referendum.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in the United Kingdom - so we can get a better deal for our country and secure our future. We are confident that the right agreement can be reached.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much HM Revenue and Customs received in wine duty between April and December (a) 2015 and (b) 2014.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Monthly receipts from duties on wine that is released for consumption in the UK are published in HMRC’s monthly publication ‘HMRC Tax Receipts and National Insurance Contributions for the UK’:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk
Receipts for December 2015 have not yet been published. In compliance with the UK Statistics Code of Practice, the provisional figures for December 2015 receipts will be released in the next publication on 22 January 2016.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will support the UK's wine and spirit industry with further duty cuts in 2016.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The government continues to keep all taxes under review and decisions on tax policy are made by the Chancellor as part of the Budget process. Any changes to alcohol duties would need to take account of a wide range of factors, including the Exchequer impact, the impact on businesses, public health and the distributional impact of reform.
The government is committed to supporting the UK wine andspirits industry. The duty onspirits was cut by 2% at March Budget 2015, building on the duty freeze at Budget 2014. The duty on wines below 22% abv has been frozen since March Budget 2015.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the funding offer for the Pioneer Communities Project was withdrawn; and what the basis was for the withdrawal.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government announced at Autumn Statement 2014 funding for the Department for Education for an “Early intervention pilot for 0-2 year olds – to pilot a new approach to ensure that the most effective early intervention actions are taken during a child’s earliest years, to prevent avoidable problems later.”
This measure was to be delivered by the Department for Education, who worked with a number of stakeholders including Her Majesty’s Treasury, the Wave Trust and the Early Intervention Foundation to identify options to deliver the project.
As no contract has been signed for this measure, in June 2015 the Department for Education undertook not to proceed with the measure in this financial year.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions took place between his Department and the Department for Education about the allocation of funds to the Pioneer Communities Project.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government announced at Autumn Statement 2014 funding for the Department for Education for an “Early intervention pilot for 0-2 year olds – to pilot a new approach to ensure that the most effective early intervention actions are taken during a child’s earliest years, to prevent avoidable problems later.”
This measure was to be delivered by the Department for Education, who worked with a number of stakeholders including Her Majesty’s Treasury, the Wave Trust and the Early Intervention Foundation to identify options to deliver the project.
As no contract has been signed for this measure, in June 2015 the Department for Education undertook not to proceed with the measure in this financial year.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when his Department agreed a grant to the Wave Trust to fund the Pioneer Communities Project; and how much that grant was for.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government announced at Autumn Statement 2014 funding for the Department for Education for an “Early intervention pilot for 0-2 year olds – to pilot a new approach to ensure that the most effective early intervention actions are taken during a child’s earliest years, to prevent avoidable problems later.”
This measure was to be delivered by the Department for Education, who worked with a number of stakeholders including Her Majesty’s Treasury, the Wave Trust and the Early Intervention Foundation to identify options to deliver the project.
As no contract has been signed for this measure, in June 2015 the Department for Education undertook not to proceed with the measure in this financial year.