Blog

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will assess the extent to which grants made by his Department to third parties are used for activities designed to influence his Department, other departments or Parliament.

    Greg Hands

    During the current financial year (2015-16), there have been no grants made to third parties which have subsequently been used for activities designed to influence theTreasury, other departments or Parliament.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress has been made by the Emerging Industry Action Group.

    Anna Soubry

    The Emerging Industry Action Group for the sharing economy held its first meeting on 12th November 2015. Businesses from across the sector have agreed to participate in the group and attended the meeting to set out their views on the key challenges and opportunities for both businesses and the Government in making the UK one of the best places to start and grow a sharing economy business.

  • Stewart McDonald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stewart McDonald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart McDonald on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons the £2,000 employment allowance is not allotted to NHS dentists employed as independent contractors.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Employment Allowance is an annual cut of up to £2,000 from the employer National Insurance Contributions bill of businesses and charities throughout the UK. As announced by the Chancellor in his Summer Budget, the allowance will increase to £3,000 from 2016-17.

    The allowance is designed to back businesses looking to grow and take on new people by reducing the costs of employment. Where businesses are already funded wholly or mainly by the public sector, they already benefit from public funds and as a result are not eligible for the Employment Allowance.

  • Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many HM Revenue and Customs jobs in (a) Bradford and (b) West Yorkshire will be lost as a result of the proposed restructuring plan.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) restructuring plans will mean it is even more effective in raising the taxes on which public services depend.

    HMRC has around 3,774 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) jobs in the Yorkshire and the Humber Region. The intention to consolidate HMRC operations across Yorkshire and the Humber into a single regional centre in Leeds accommodating between 4,100 and 4,400 FTE, by 2021, is expected to result in an overall increase in jobs in the region.

    In offices which will close and are outside reasonable travel distance of Leeds, HMRC employees will have the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances in one-to-one meetings with their manager. Until then HMRC cannot be certain of the number staff who are unable to move to a Regional Centre.

    More details on the number of people relocating from individual offices, including Bradford, Leeds and Shipley, will be known when lines of business have finalised their plans and individuals have had the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances in one-to-one meetings with their manager.

    HMRC will look at redeployment opportunities for people who are unable to move, helping and supporting them to find another role, possibly in other government departments.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been paid to HM Revenue and Customs in fines for non-compliance with minimum wage legislation in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr David Gauke

    In 2014/15, HM Revenue and Customs identified 735 incidences of non-compliance and issued penalties of £934,660. They recovered arrears for 26,318 workers.

    I refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 218083 for numbers of workers for the previous years, to the answer provided to her on 6 May 2014 at Hansard Column 110W for information on arrears, and to the answer provided to her at UIN 205613 with regard to penalties.

    I further refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 211605 for information on recovery of arrears.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been paid to employees in arrears as a result of enforcement of minimum wage legislation by HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr David Gauke

    The information requested is provided in the ‘Final Government Evidence for the Low Pay Commission’ reports.

  • Andy McDonald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andy McDonald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress the Government has made on its proposed plans to introduce a degree apprenticeship in Leadership and Management as announced in Fixing the Foundations: Creating a more Prosperous Nation, Cm 9098, published in July 2015.

    Nick Boles

    I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave to the hon Member for Salford and Eccles (Rebecca Long Bailey) to question UIN 16937.

    “

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by HM Revenue and Customs to enforce compliance with minimum wage legislation in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government is committed to increasing compliance with minimum wage legislation and effective enforcement of it. Everyone who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it. Employers who pay workers less than the minimum wage not only have to pay back arrears of wages at current minimum wage rates but also face financial penalties of up to £20,000 per underpaid worker.

    The Government has increased annual funding of National Minimum Wage enforcement by over 60% since 2010, meaning a £13.2m budget in 2015/16.

    This has enabled a significant expansion of resources dedicated to enforcing the minimum wage; there are currently 237 staff (224.05 full-time equivalent) in HM Revenue and Customs’ National Minimum Wage teams, up from 171 at the start of 2014/15.

    Previous years’ detail is provided in the table below:

    Year

    Funding allocated by BIS (or predecessor departments) (£m)

    Full-time equivalent staff

    2006/07

    5.8

    Not available

    2007/08

    6.8

    Not available

    2008/09

    7.6

    139.16

    2009/10

    8.3

    140.18

    2010/11

    8.1

    142.18

    2011/12

    8.3

    138.88

    2012/13

    8.3

    142.37

    2013/14

    8.3

    157.85

    2014/15

    9.2*

    183.47

    *Increased in-year

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many projects, of what value, have received investment through the Pensions Infrastructure Platform in (a) 2015 and (b) since the platform’s launch.

    Greg Hands

    The Pensions Infrastructure Platform (PIP) is a vehicle for encouraging pension funds to invest in infrastructure. It does this by establishing special purpose infrastructure investment funds that are designed to meet the needs of pension funds. The PIP is owned by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) with investment from pension funds.

    Two funds have been launched so far through the PIP. The first fund was launched in 2014 and is managed by Dalmore Capital with a remit to invest in UK PPP/PFI project equity. The fund has currently raised £508m commitments of a £600m target. The second PIP fund is a domestic solar PV fund managed by Aviva, it was launched in February 2015 and has commitments of £131mn and a target of £250mn.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Alison Thewliss – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the European Commission on the abolition of Value Added Tax on sanitary products.

    Mr David Gauke

    Following the recent Parliamentary debate on this issue, I have written to the European Commission and other Member States setting out the Government’s view that Member States should have full discretion over what rate of VAT they can apply to sanitary products, and that this should be considered in the context of the Commission’s ambition to produce an Action Plan on VAT initiatives in 2016.