Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a reduced apprenticeship levy contribution for companies which take on apprentices with SEND.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of increasing covid-19 infections in China on the rate of inflation in the UK.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Since mid-2021, inflation has been pushed higher by global pressures, such as supply chain disruptions from Covid-19 and Russia’s war against Ukraine, which has raised energy prices. More recently, tightening in the labour market means that domestic factors are now playing a role.
The Government is mindful of both the domestic and international risks that might affect the UK economy. We monitor these risks closely, including the rise in Covid-19 cases in China.
The independent Office for Budget Responsibility is the government’s official forecaster and will publish its next forecast on the economy, including for inflation, on 15 March.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of Freeport East on (a) skills and (b) employment opportunities in (i) Ipswich and (ii) the Ipswich area.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Freeports will increase trade, create employment and attract investment. The Government announced eight Freeports, including Freeport East, at the Budget. Each will now prepare their business cases, to agree with Government their plans and expected impacts.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what further assessment his Department has made of the effect of plans to introduce a reverse VAT charge for building and construction services on the (a) liquidity of mid-market construction firms and (b) Government's infrastructure plans.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government remains committed to introducing the VAT reverse charge for building and construction. VAT fraud in this sector still presents a significant risk to the Exchequer.
There are several UK anti-fraud reverse charge measures and their impact on business and supply chains is now well understood and explained in the Impact Assessment. The Government has listened carefully to industry concerns regarding the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and has further delayed the introduction of the reverse charge by a period of five months from 1 October 2020 until 1 March 2021.
HMRC will continue to work closely with the construction industry, providing support and communications to ensure that businesses are fully aware and can prepare for cashflow challenges ahead of the implementation date.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to allow access to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for businesses where HMRC had not received the necessary Real Time Information submissions through no fault of the businesses; and what steps he is taking to put in place an appeals system to deal with such cases.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Employees furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) must have been on their employer’s PAYE payroll on or before 19 March 2020 and HMRC must have received an RTI (Real Time Information) submission notifying payment in respect of that employee on or before 19 March 2020.
The Government set up the CJRS to operate at significant scale and with limited manual intervention. The eligibility requirements are designed to ensure as many people as possible are included in the scheme while allowing HMRC to verify claims using RTI data, mitigating the risk of fraud. Processing claims for the CJRS in cases where HMRC did not have RTI data would significantly slow down the system and increase the risk of fraud.