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  • Nicholas Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Nicholas Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has to ensure (a) British Overseas Territories and (b) the City of London comply with international standards for transparency in tax matters.

    Mr David Gauke

    In 2013, a major focus of the UK’s G8 Presidency was tax transparency and combatting offshore tax evasion. As part of this the UK promoted the development of a new global standard for reciprocal automatic exchange of financial account information in order to effectively tackle the global problem of tax evasion. Due in large part to the UK’s leadership, over 90 countries and jurisdictions have now committed to the new global standard – known as the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) – and will begin automatically exchanging information under the standard by 2017 or 2018.

    Together with the UK itself, all of the UK’s Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories with a recognised financial centre have committed to the 2017 timetable as early adopters. They will also be automatically exchanging 2014 and 2015 financial account information bilaterally with the UK in 2016. The City of London is covered by the CRS which has been implemented in UK law.

    In addition to their commitments to early adoption of the CRS, all of the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies have engaged fully in the Global Forum Peer Review Process on exchange of information on request, have publicly committed to improvements in the transparency of company ownership and meet Financial Action Task Force requirements.

  • Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the change in projected Government expenditure for 2020 under the Levy Control Framework resulting from the decision to freeze the level of the carbon price floor in the 2014 Budget.

    Damian Hinds

    There is no change in the government’s ambition for deployment of new renewable generation or strike prices from the decision to cap the carbon price support at Budget 2014. At Budget 2014 the established Levy Control Framework arrangements and budget provide the flexibility to achieve the investment and growth that is needed to tackle climate change and meet the renewable energy target.

  • David Mowat – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    David Mowat – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mowat on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to increase the number of simple, low risk investment products that are available to charitable organisations; and if he will make a statement.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Charities can invest their funds in a wide range of investment products. Charity trustees should refer to the Charity Commission’s guidance on investments, and should generally seek professional advice before investing.

    There are some specific investment products available only to charities. Common Investment Funds and Common Deposit Funds are collective investment and deposit vehicles open to charities.

    In addition, the government announced at Budget 2015 the introduction of a new Charity Authorised Investment Fund structure. This will bring new investment funds established for charitable purposes under FCA regulation, ensuring they receive the same regulatory oversight and protections as funds for retail investors.

    The FCA is currently consulting on measures to implement the new fund structure. The proposals being consulted on include the registration of the fund as a charity, the role of advisory committees, and provisions on income distribution and capital allocation. The consultation will close on 7 December 2015.

  • Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much of the projected increase in spend under the Levy Control Framework for 2020-21 is directly attributable to solar energy.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The projected overspend in 2020/21 is not attributable to an individual technology but rather a collection of factors, for example changes in wholesale prices, accelerated developments in technological efficiency and higher than expected uptake of demand led schemes

  • Nicholas Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Nicholas Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress his Department has made in tackling international tax avoidance.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government is committed to countering tax avoidance to ensure all tax payers pay their fair share. The UK has been at the forefront of international efforts to tackle corporate tax avoidance through the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project, which had the objective of ensuring profits are taxed where economic activities are performed.

    The first phase of the BEPS project was delivered in 2014, and the UK was the first adopter of the 2014 recommendations, by legislating for the internationally agreed country-by-country reporting template; and consulting on implementing the OECD agreed rules to deal with hybrid mismatch arrangements.

    In line with the objectives of the BEPS project, the Government also introduced the Diverted Profits Tax to target contrived arrangements used by large multinational companies to divert profits away from the UK.

    The final BEPS project reports were published on 5 October 2015. The UK will give full consideration to the outputs of the BEPS project and will engage with the OECD’s work on developing a framework for monitoring implementation.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what fiscal steps he is taking to support the Government’s aim of halving the disability employment gap.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Government is committed to giving disabled people the opportunity to fulfil their potential and achieve their ambitions. Work is an important part of this. That is why we have committed to halving the disability employment gap, requiring us to transform policy, practice and public attitudes.

    We must build on recent progress. We have already:

    – extended Access to Work to provide support to more disabled people in pre-employment, such as work experience and also to undertake employment-based training, such as supported internships, traineeships and self-arranged work experience.

    – launched Specialist Employability Support, an innovative new programme which provides intensive, specialist support to the disabled people who need the most help.

    – continued to work with employers through our Disability Confident campaign to ensure that they understand the benefits of recruiting and retaining disabled people in work.

    – announced new funding in the Budget of up to £100m per year for additional practical support to provide the right incentives and support to enable those who have limited capability, but who have some potential to prepare, for work to move closer to the labour market, and when they are ready, back into work.

    – committed to spending £43m over the next 3 years to develop the evidence base on what works for those with common mental health conditions retain and return to employment. This will be done through a range of voluntary mental health and employment pilots that will go live next year

    We set up the Work and Health unit in the summer to bring together the Work and Health agendas, to help disabled people and people with health conditions get into work, stay in work, and return to work with the right support and we are developing our plans in this area.

    The Government will set out it its spending plans for this Parliament in the forthcoming Spending Review.

  • Andrew Bingham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andrew Bingham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bingham on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the loss of tax revenues from road fund licences arising from incorrect emissions figures for Volkswagen vehicles.

    Damian Hinds

    The Government takes the unacceptable actions of Volkswagen extremely seriously and is taking robust action to get to the bottom of the emissions scandal.

    The Government has announced that UK taxpayers will not incur higher Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) if their existing vehicles are found to be affected by the emissions scandal.

    The Government continues to monitor the actions of Volkswagen closely and will consider all options once the facts are fully clarified.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the value of stationery that has been (a) lost and (b) stolen from his Department in each of the last five fiscal years; and what the cost was of replacing such stationery.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Prime Minister’s Office is part of the Cabinet Office. No stationery was reported as lost or stolen from the Cabinet Office in any of the last five fiscal years.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the value of stationery that has been (a) lost and (b) stolen from the Prime Minister’s Office in each of the last five fiscal years; and what the cost was of replacing such stationery.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Prime Minister’s Office is part of the Cabinet Office. No stationery was reported as lost or stolen from the Cabinet Office in any of the last five fiscal years.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with the International Network for Government Science Advice on improving scientific advice within UK Departments of State based on best practice worldwide.

    Matthew Hancock

    In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of ministerial discussions are not normally disclosed.