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  • Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the HM Revenue and Custom’s commissioned research conducted by Oxera on the impact employee share ownership schemes had on the productivity levels of UK firms.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The report “Tax-advantaged employee share schemes: analysis of productivity effects” was prepared for HM Revenue and Customs by Oxera and published in August 2007.

    The research represents a valuable addition to the evidence base on employee share schemes, but there are important limitations to its scope. While the research uses real measures of company productivity, it does not take into account potential complementary effects or assess the effects of share schemes on other performance measures, such as staff turnover, or in achieving wider objectives such as promoting share ownership.

  • Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on UK productivity of the planned withdrawal of HM Revenue and Custom’s valuation check service.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    No impact on UK productivity is anticipated. HMRC has not withdrawn the valuation service for those share schemes most relevant to small and medium sized enterprises.

    These include:

    • Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI),

    • Company Share Option Plans (CSOP),

    • Save As You Earn share option schemes (SAYE),

    • Share Incentive Plans (SIP) and

    • Employee Shareholder Status (ESS).

      HMRC has however announced a review of the valuation services for those schemes and is consulting interested parties.

      HMRC has withdrawn valuation checks for income tax and PAYE that are not part of these recognised employee ownership schemes. Most people submitted acceptable valuations and therefore the valuation service offered was not seen as needed.

  • Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice they received on the impact on small and medium-sized enterprises’ productivity levels following the withdrawal of HM Revenue and Custom’s valuation check service.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    No impact on the productivity of small and medium-sized enterprises is anticipated. HMRC has not withdrawn the valuation service for those share schemes most relevant to these enterprises.

    These include:

    • Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI),

    • Company Share Option Plans (CSOP),

    • Save As You Earn share option schemes (SAYE),

    • Share Incentive Plans (SIP) and

    • Employee Shareholder Status (ESS).

      HMRC has however announced a review of the valuation services for those schemes and is consulting interested parties.

      HMRC has withdrawn valuation checks for income tax and PAYE that are not part of these recognised employee ownership schemes. Most people submitted acceptable valuations and therefore the valuation service offered was not seen as needed.

  • Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consultation or correspondence they had with companies offering employee share ownership schemes before announcing the withdrawal of HM Revenue and Custom’s valuation check service.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has been consulting representative bodies through the Valuation Fiscal Forum over the last 18 months.

    HMRC has not withdrawn valuation services that are most relevant to employee share ownership schemes.

    These include:

    • Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI),

    • Company Share Option Plans (CSOP),

    • Save As You Earn share option schemes (SAYE),

    • Share Incentive Plans (SIP) and

    • Employee Shareholder Status (ESS).

      HMRC has, however, announced a review of the valuation services for those schemes and is consulting interested parties.

      HMRC has withdrawn valuation checks for income tax and PAYE that are not part of these recognised employee ownership schemes. Most people submitted acceptable valuations and therefore the valuation service offered was not seen as needed.

  • Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will permit zero rating for church repairs following the decision of the EU Council to allow member states to set a VAT rate of zero.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    Under consecutive governments renovations and repairs have been subject to the standard rate of VAT.

    The government provides grant aid to support certain church repairs and maintenance projects through the Listed Places of Worship grant scheme which makes £42 million of government support available per year and the Listed Places of Worship roof repair fund worth £55 million in total. More details of these are available online.

  • Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Lister of Burtersett on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have received an explanation from the government of the United States as to why the approved biometric permit enrolment centres are delayed in that country; what is the revised targeted roll-out date; and what steps they are currently taking to assist those applying under the UKF form citizenship route to achieve their UK citizenship in a timely manner, whilst those centres are facing delays in implementation.

    Lord Keen of Elie

    The use of US Application Support Centers (ASCs) to capture biometrics for nationality (‘citizenship’) applications has required new IT provisions, as well as a refreshed Memorandum of Understanding. These changes have required the approval of both the US Department of Homeland Security and the State Department. Agreement has drawn on our strong existing relationships, but due to competing priorities has taken longer than expected.

    There were some initial challenges in delivering the intricate IT arrangements, resulting in delays in implementation; these have now been resolved and the IT is in place.

    We have advised applicants of the reasons for the delay and have put in place provisions for customers in urgent cases to attend the UK Visa office at the UK Consulate in New York to exceptionally enrol their biometrics there.

    Within the last week, the necessary authority has been received to proceed and we will now move to urgently finalise arrangements. We hope to be able to complete the necessary contractual work as a priority and then to begin the roll out as soon as possible thereafter.

  • Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Lister of Burtersett on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government in what form they will report on the revenue collected from the immigration health surcharge for foreign nationals; and whether that information will be placed in the public domain.

    Lord Keen of Elie

    The Home Office committed to provide information about its administration of the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) within 12 months of the surcharge going live. The Immigration Minister wrote to the Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee to provide an update on 23 March, including details of the number of migrants who have paid the Surcharge and the total amount of Surcharge funding directed to the National Health Service (NHS).

    A copy of the letter has been placed in the House library to ensure the commitment to Parliament is met. The Home Office will also report on total IHS income received in its Annual Report and Accounts.

  • Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Lister of Burtersett on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether revenue generated from the immigration health surcharge for foreign nationals will be re-directed back into funding for the NHS; and if so, what measures have been put in place to achieve that.

    Lord Keen of Elie

    All funding derived from the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) will be spent on the National Health Service, with the exception around £7 million per annum which will be used to fund some costs that fall to the Home Office associated with collecting and handling the surcharge.

    The Home Office transfers funds to the Department for Health and, consistent with the Barnett Formula, the devolved administrations through the Estimates process. In the event that IHS in-come exceeds the amount transferred, the balance will be surrendered to the Consolidated Fund for Extra Receipts and made available for spending on the NHS in the following financial year.

  • Lord Horam – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Horam – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Horam on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many homes were completed in each London Borough in the latest year for which figures are available; and how many homes were sold under the Right to Buy in each of those London Boroughs in the same year.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The figures requested are provided in the table below:

    London Borough

    Dwellings completed in 20151

    Right to Buy sales in 20152

    Barking and Dagenham

    649

    216

    Barnet

    1,500

    89

    Bexley

    603

    ..

    Brent

    708

    60

    Bromley

    676

    ..

    Camden

    711

    140

    City of London

    10

    5

    Croydon

    1,687

    160

    Ealing

    756

    105

    Enfield

    610

    144

    Greenwich

    1,874

    240

    Hackney

    623

    241

    Hammersmith and Fulham

    290

    82

    Haringey

    651

    177

    Harrow

    561

    28

    Havering

    1,084

    86

    Hillingdon

    537

    136

    Hounslow

    1,043

    183

    Islington

    189

    176

    Kensington and Chelsea

    1,119

    36

    Kingston upon Thames

    46

    37

    Lambeth

    1,302

    228

    Lewisham

    1,118

    111

    Merton

    158

    ..

    Newham

    691

    330

    Redbridge

    492

    46

    Richmond upon Thames

    121

    ..

    Southwark

    1,466

    278

    Sutton

    194

    52

    Tower Hamlets

    1,138

    264

    Waltham Forest

    1,081

    100

    Wandsworth

    761

    47

    Westminster

    166

    51

    1 source: Live Table 253a https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building

    2 source: Live Table 691 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-social-housing-sales

    Figures exclude Preserved Right to Buy

    .. Local Authority owns no dwelling stock.

    “

  • Lord Horam – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Horam – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Horam on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many homes were completed under the Affordable Homes Programme launched in April 2011.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Government has delivered 193,000 affordable homes through the 2011-15 Affordable Homes Programme. This programme exceeded expectations delivering 23,000 more affordable homes than anticipated.