Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of setting the level of tax-free childcare allowance at a local level and increasing that level for claimants in areas with higher childcare costs.
Answered by John Glen
Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) provides financial support for working parents with their childcare costs. For every £8 parents pay into their childcare account, the Government adds £2 up to a maximum of £2,000 in top up per year for each child up to age 11 and up to £4,000 per disabled child until they are 17.
As Tax-Free Childcare is a UK-wide offer, the level of financial support it provides has been set at the same level to avoid arbitrary cut-offs between different regions.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, What steps his department is taking to support food banks, in the context of rises in the cost-of-living.
Answered by John Glen
Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Government does not have any role in their operation.
However, the Government recognises the challenges facing households due to elevated costs of living, and has taken further steps to protect struggling families. Taken together, support for households is worth £94 billion, or £3,300 per household on average, across 2022-23 and 2023-24.
This includes targeted support for millions of the most vulnerable households this year through up to £900 in Cost of Living Payments for households on means-tested benefits, with an additional £300 for pensioner households, and £150 for individuals on disability benefits. This is in addition to the £650 Cost of Living Payment made last year to households on means-tested benefits, with additional support for pensioners and individuals on disability benefits.
At Autumn Statement 2022, the Government also announced a further, twelve-month extension to the Household Support Fund in England, with £1bn additional funding (including Barnett funding for the Devolved Administrations), which started on 1 April 2023. This allows Local Authorities to provide crisis support to vulnerable households, such as through supermarket vouchers or partnering with food banks.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that the grant of special licenses by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation is subject to (a) effective scrutiny and (b) ministerial oversight.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
I refer you to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 30 March 2023. This can be found here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2023-03-30/hlws686.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to take steps to review the Lifetime ISA property value threshold against house prices in London.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
Data from the latest UK House Price Index demonstrates that the average price paid by first-time buyers in Outer London is below the Lifetime ISA property price cap at just under £417,000. In Inner London, the average price paid is affected by Boroughs with very high property values. The Office for Budget Responsibility is also forecasting for house prices to fall by 9% by 2024.
In this context, the £450,000 price cap remains appropriate to support most first-time buyers across the UK while targeting households that may find it most difficult to get onto the property ladder.
The Government keeps the operational aspects of the Lifetime ISA under review, as it does all aspects of the tax system, with any changes being announced at a fiscal event.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to help people use their investment in a Help to Buy ISA in (a) Hampstead and Kilburn constituency and (b) other areas where average housing costs exceed £450,000.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
While the Government keeps all aspects of saving policy under review, the Help to Buy: ISA scheme is designed to support prospective first-time buyers who want to get onto the housing ladder, but who may struggle to raise a deposit to do so. As first-time buyers tend to buy smaller (and therefore cheaper) first properties, the Help to Buy: ISA’s property price cap of £450,000 within London therefore allows the Government to target support more precisely at the people the scheme is intended to help. Since its launch in 2015, the scheme has supported 531,507 property completions across the UK, including over 43,000 completions in London, with a mean property value of £176,828 through the scheme compared with an average first-time buyer house price of £245,350.
Further information on the Government’s home purchase support schemes can be found at: https://www.ownyourhome.gov.uk
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Approved mileage rates.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
As with all taxes, the AMAP rate is kept under review and any changes are considered and announced by the Chancellor.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support (a) pubs and (b) breweries with increases in the cost of living.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
On 19 December, the Government announced a six-month extension of the current alcohol duty freeze to 1 August 2023. Beer duty is now at its lowest level in real terms since the 1990s.
Through the alcohol duty reforms, which will be introduced on 1 August this year, pubs and breweries will benefit from a new Draught Relief, providing a duty discount for draught products under 8.5% ABV sold in pubs. Small to medium sized producers will also benefit from an improved Small Producer Relief, building on the existing Small Brewers Relief which the sector has benefitted from for over 20 years.
Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors will receive a tax cut worth over £2 billion in 2023-24. Eligible properties will receive 75% off their business rates bill, up to a cap of £110,000 per business.
Through the new Energy Bills Discount Scheme, all eligible businesses will receive a discount on high energy bills until 31 March 2024. The Government provided an unprecedented package of support through this winter, and we have been clear that such levels of support were time-limited and intended as a bridge to allow businesses to adapt.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2023 to Question 121058 on Royal Mint: Non-fungible Tokens, when he plans to provide an update on the creation of a Royal Mint non-fungible token.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
In due course.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the Treasury has spent to-date on the creation of a Royal Mint non-fungible token; and if he will provide a breakdown of that spend by (a) staff time and resource, (b) development, (c) marketing and (d) other relevant costs.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
An update on this work will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Treasury still plans to create a Royal Mint non-fungible token.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
An update on this work will be provided in due course.