Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to publish the next edition of the Climate Change Levy and Carbon Price Floor bulletin.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in significant reductions in data availability impacting the production of Climate Change Levy (CCL) and Carbon Price Floor (CPF) statistics. Because of this, the publication of the Climate Change Levy (CCL) and Carbon Price Floor (CPF) Bulletin, which was scheduled for June 2020, was cancelled.
If sufficient data becomes available to produce the publication ahead of the next planned date of December 2020, the Government will make a further announcement.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it is his policy to not raise the rates of (a) income tax, (b) National Insurance and (c) VAT during the 2019 Parliament.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government’s priority is to support people and businesses throughout this crisis. As the Chancellor has said, a new national collective effort has begun: to reopen the country and kickstart the economy. As part of this, the Treasury continues to keep all taxes under review, and the Chancellor will update Parliament on tax policy decisions at future budgets.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it is his policy to maintain the triple lock on pensions.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government is committed to ensuring that older people are able to live with the dignity and respect they deserve.
Since 2010, the State Pension has been uprated by the highest of average earnings growth, price inflation or 2.5% - an approach known as the Triple Lock. The value of the State Pension is £1,903.20 a year higher than it was in 2010. In total, the Government will spend around £100 billion on the State Pension, and close to £127 billion on overall benefits for pensioners in 2020-21.
The Government provides support for older people, such as Winter Fuel Payments, free eye tests and NHS prescriptions, and free bus passes. The Government also provides Pension Credit for pensioners with low incomes. Pension Credit is an income-related benefit paid out of general taxation and targets help at the poorest pensioners who, for whatever reason, have been unable to save for their retirement.
With regards to the future of the Triple Lock, as with all aspects of Government policy, any decisions on future changes will be taken as part of an annual Budget process in the context of the wider public finances.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to open the Kickstart scheme to (a) employers and (b) young people.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Kickstart Scheme will be open to funding applications from employers from August 2020, and the Government expects that the first jobs for young people will begin in the autumn.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when his Department plans to publish the UK charity tax relief statistics for 2019-2020.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
This publication had previously been announced for release in June 2020. As the demand increases for statistics and data to measure the impact of the COVID19 pandemic, HMRC has had to change its release practices, focussing efforts on priority analysis and statistics. In line with guidance from the Office for Statistics Regulation, HMRC announced on 22 May its decision to delay the release of this publication to October 2020. This information is online on GOV.UK at:
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 lockdown restrictions on forecast revenue from the soft drinks industry levy.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Treasury does not publish forecasts of the economy or the public finances. Forecasts of future receipts are produced by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) on a regular basis as part of their Economic and Fiscal Outlook series.
Although the OBR published a Fiscal Sustainability Report on 14 July, that report contains scenarios, not forecasts, and is not broken down to the level of individual taxes.
The Chancellor will commission the OBR to produce a forecast alongside the next fiscal event in the usual way.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when his Department plans to publish statistics on Government revenues from UK oil and gas production.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
On 18th May 2020 HMRC confirmed the publication date for Statistics of Government revenues from UK Oil and Gas Production as 23rd July 2020 on the official Government website (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schedule-of-updates-for-hmrcs-statistics). A direct link to HMRC’s announcement is provided below:
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to publish the latest quarterly statistics on duty receipts and clearances for hydrocarbon oils.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
HMRC are provisionally scheduled to publish the latest quarterly hydrocarbon oils receipts and clearances statistics at 09:30 22 September 2020. The publication will be updated with provisional statistics for June, July and August 2020 and will be published on the HMRC UK Trade Info website.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the policy at paragraph 2.14 of the July 2020 Plan for Jobs CP 261.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The government will introduce a new payment of £2,000 to employers in England for each new apprentice they hire aged under 25, and a £1,500 payment for each new apprentice they hire aged 25 and over, from 1st August 2020 to 31st January 2021. Table 1 of the Plan for Jobs shows the level of fiscal support available including £1.6 billion for boosting worksearch, skills and apprenticeships. This includes the indicative cost of 100,000 incentive payments for new apprenticeship hires. The final costs will depend on the number of new apprentices hired.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding he has allocated to the policy at paragraph 2.48 of the July 2020 Plan for Jobs CP 261.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The government is creating a new Office for Talent based in No.10, with delivery teams across government departments. The Office will focus on attracting, retaining and developing top research and science talent across the UK and internationally. Precise details of implementation, including funding arrangements, will be determined in due course.