Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the analysis by the Institution of Civil Engineers that improving strategic planning of infrastructure investment would unlock more benefits than the current, siloed sector-by-sector approach, as outlined in its policy position statement, Evolving the UK strategic infrastructure planning system post-National Infrastructure Strategy, published July 2021.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The government is committed to the approach to infrastructure that was set out in the National Infrastructure Strategy (NIS) in November 2020. This addresses the long-term issues that have held back investment in and delivery of UK infrastructure, and ensures a coherent cross-sectoral approach to decision-making.
As committed to in the NIS, last year the government reviewed the National Infrastructure Commission’s (NIC’s) role and responsibilities, and the NIC’s fiscal remit. As a result of those reviews, at Spending Review 2021 the government updated the NIC’s objectives to reflect the government’s climate commitments and increased the NIC’s fiscal remit. These changes will inform the NIC’s Second National Infrastructure Assessment, to be published in 2023, which launched recently with the publication of a baseline report and will set out the NIC’s expert independent assessment of the UK’s economic infrastructure needs. ICE’s policy statement was one of the sources that informed the reviews, and ongoing engagement with industry stakeholders and representative organisations remains central to the government’s infrastructure strategy.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of changes to Small Brewers Relief on small breweries.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Treasury committed to reforming Small Brewers Relief (SBR) and our review of SBR is ongoing. A technical consultation was launched in January this year to help inform the Government’s review. The consultation document provides further information on the Government’s assessment of changes and we are currently analysing the responses.
The Treasury believe that reducing the starting taper from 5,000 to 2,100 hectolitres (880,000 pints a year to 370,000 pints a year) strikes a balance between guaranteeing the full value of the relief for truly small breweries, while providing those between the 2,100 to 5,000 hectolitres threshold a smoother transition to the main duty rate. Officials are continuing to work closely with HM Revenue and Customs to deliver a relief that is sustainable and supports brewers of all sizes in the long-term.
We will publish our response to the technical consultation in due course.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support he plans to provide to small breweries to deal with additional costs from the proposed changes to Small Brewers Relief.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Treasury committed to reforming Small Brewers Relief (SBR) and our review of SBR is ongoing. A technical consultation was launched in January this year to help inform the Government’s review. The consultation document provides further information on the Government’s assessment of changes and we are currently analysing the responses.
The Treasury believe that reducing the starting taper from 5,000 to 2,100 hectolitres (880,000 pints a year to 370,000 pints a year) strikes a balance between guaranteeing the full value of the relief for truly small breweries, while providing those between the 2,100 to 5,000 hectolitres threshold a smoother transition to the main duty rate. Officials are continuing to work closely with HM Revenue and Customs to deliver a relief that is sustainable and supports brewers of all sizes in the long-term.
We will publish our response to the technical consultation in due course.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the finding of the Disabled Children’s Partnerships report, Left Behind, published 16 July 2021, that over half of local authorities have failed to meet their targets for providing Education, Health and Care plan assessments, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on increasing long-term funding for disabled children’s social care services.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
HM Treasury Ministers regularly meet with other government departments and a range of stakeholders, which includes discussions around support for disabled children and young people.
To support local areas, the government has given over £6 billion in un-ringfenced funding directly to councils to support them with the immediate and longer-term impacts of COVID-19 spending pressures, including children’s services. At last year’s Spending Review, we provided councils with access to over £1bn of spending for social care through £300m of new social care grant and the ability to introduce a 3% adult social care precept. This funding was additional to the £1 billion social care grant announced in 2019 which was maintained in line with the government's manifesto.
We are also increasing education funding for children with complex special educational needs and disabilities by nearly a quarter in two years, to £8 billion this year.
We will continue to work with other government departments, including Department for Education and the Ministry of Housing, Communities &
Local Government, to ensure the upcoming Spending Review reflects the needs of children’s social care services.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance his Department plans to issue for businesses exporting to the EU with reference to the rate of import tax their customers would need to pay.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HMRC provided extensive and updated GOV.UK guidance on customs processes for the end of the transition period. HMRC continue to work with business stakeholders, listening to their feedback, to develop new content on high priority topics.
The Government has published a digital tool to help exporters check duties and customs procedures for exporting goods: https://www.gov.uk/check-duties-customs-exporting. Import and export procedures in EU countries are the responsibility of the tax and customs authorities in those countries. Businesses and individuals should confirm the processes at their port of arrival. More information can be found at: https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/home_en.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the letter of 12 January 2021 from Maternity Action, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Midwives recommending that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme be amended to enable employers to recover the full cost of a maternity suspension on full pay of a woman who is 28 weeks pregnant or more, what estimate his Department has made of the monthly cost to the Exchequer of implementing that proposal.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The objective of the CJRS is to enable employers to keep people in employment. In order to achieve this, the grants compensate employers for the payments that they are contractually obliged to make in order to avoid the need for redundancies. Covering maternity suspension would go beyond the objectives of the scheme. It is also the case that the level of support provided through the CJRS must remain the same for all employers and employees, and that the CJRS is only one part of a wider package of support for business and individuals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since March 2020, the Government has provided support for people, businesses and public services totalling an estimated £280 billion. In particular, businesses have received billions in loans, tax deferrals, Business Rate reliefs, and general and sector-specific grants. This support can be used by businesses to top up the CJRS grant, ensuring that they can suspend pregnant employees on full pay.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reducing the duty on cider with an alcohol content below 7 per cent.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government recognises the valuable contribution of the cider industry to the UK economy, and has in recent years provided considerable economic support. Since 2014, the Government has ended the cider duty escalator, and has frozen or cut cider duties at five of the last six Budgets. Cuts and freezes to alcohol duties since 2013 have cost the Treasury £6.2 billion in revenue.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many families with children have received the £20 per week uplift in working tax credit basic element payments in Bath in each month since that uplift was introduced.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The latest available information on the number of families with children receiving Working Tax Credit at the parliamentary constituency level is for April 2020. In April 2020, the number of families with children receiving Working Tax Credit in Bath was 500.
Information on following months is not readily available. The next update to this publication will provide statistics relating to December 2020 and will be available in January 2021.
Final annual information on families with children receiving Working Tax Credits is published once a year and updated each July.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of reducing the rate of VAT on sunscreen and other sun safety products.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government's approach is to support safety campaigns that place sunscreen within its proper context; as a precaution that people can take against the sun, but that does not provide 100 per cent protection. While sun protection products have a role to play in skin safety, it is important that people do not rely on sunscreen alone.
VAT raises a significant amount of revenue and plays an important part in funding the Government's public spending priorities. Any application of a reduced rate would have to be balanced against this. The Government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a reduction in beer duty for the independent brewery sector for the rest of the 2020-21 financial year, in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Treasury froze beer duty at the recent Budget. This means that the beer duty rate is the same in 2020-21 as in 2019-20. Thanks to decisions by this Government, the beer duty rate has been unchanged since 2017.
The Treasury keeps all taxes, including beer duty, under review.