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  • Stewart Jackson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Stewart Jackson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the progress made by the Troubled Families initiative in the Peterborough City Council area since 2011; and if he will make a statement.

    Greg Clark

    The Troubled Families Programme in the Peterborough City Council area helped produce successful outcomes with 450 troubled families. This was assessed according to whether children were attending school, youth crime and anti-social behaviour had been reduced, and adults from troubled families were helped off out-of-work benefits and into continuous employment.

    Under the provisions of the Welfare Reform and Work Bill, I will be reporting on the progress of the Troubled Families Programme annually.

  • Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect on local authority budgets of people in supported housing not remaining in that housing as a result of a cap on housing benefit at the rate of local housing allowance.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information requested is not available.

  • Stewart Jackson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Stewart Jackson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of round 2 of the Build to Rent scheme in delivering new homes; and if he will make a statement.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Build-to-Rent programme has helped to catalyse funding from other sources. Developers are now proceeding with schemes that will deliver over 3,000 homes using alternative finance after having originally made an application to the Fund.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department is making on encouraging buy-to-let mortgage lenders to allow longer tenancies in their terms and conditions.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Government supports longer tenancies, and promotes them through its Model Tenancy Agreement. We have continued to encourage mortgage lenders to permit family friendly tenancies, and the majority have now changed their policies, and permit tenancies of up to two to three years.

    A letter was sent to the Council for Mortgage Lenders on this subject in January 2016, urging them to encourage those lenders who have not changed their policies to do so, and to encourage lenders to promote the benefits of the Model Tenancy Agreement to their landlord customers.

  • Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the loss of income to providers of supported housing from a cap on housing benefit at the rate of local housing allowance.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information is not available.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what modelling his Department undertakes on the effect on changes to pension contributions of changes to (a) annual allowance and (b) lifetime allowance; and what sources his Department uses for such modelling.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government does not hold its own records on total accumulated pension wealth, only on pension contributions. For the purposes of the Lifetime Allowance, officials have used data from the ONS Wealth and Assets Survey, which includes estimates of pension wealth.

    The Government assessed the effects of changes to the Annual Allowance and Lifetime Allowance by considering how many people would have to reduce their saving in response to these reductions. This methodology was agreed with the OBR.

    The reduction in the Lifetime Allowance will affect only 4% of savers currently approaching retirement. The Lifetime Allowance will be reduced to £1 million from April, but the average pension savings of someone approaching retirement is only £85,000.

    Just 1% of savers make contributions of £40,000 per year, the level of the Annual Allowance since April 2014. The average saver contributes £6,000 per year.

    The introduction of the Tapered Annual Allowance for individuals who earn over £150,000 in April 2016 will impact less than 2% of people saving into a pension.

    The Government laid out its modelling on the effect of changes to the Annual and Lifetime Allowances on pension contributions in its policy costings documents at the March and Summer Budgets 2015.

    For changes to the Lifetime Allowance, the Wealth and Assets Survey was used to estimate pension wealth, and this was projected forward using assumed pension contributions and estimates of the real rate of return on pensions savings taken from the OECD and the Government Actuary’s Department.

    For the Tapered Annual Allowance, modelling used estimates from the Survey of Personal Incomes, HMRC operational data on personal pension contributions, the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, and the Occupational Pension Scheme Survey.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what feasibility studies or other assessments of basic income schemes have been carried out by HM Treasury officials since 1990; and if he will place copies of any such studies or assessments in the Library.

    Damian Hinds

    The government keeps all tax and welfare policies under review. HM Treasury does not at present have any plans to produce or publish any research on or assessment of basic income schemes.

  • Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received from (a) providers of supported housing and (b) organisations representing people with disabilities on the effect of a cap on housing benefit on the provision of supported housing.

    Greg Hands

    Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

  • Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the value for money review of the relocation of Oldham HM Revenue and Customs Office to Manchester city centre.

    Mr David Gauke

    The HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) office at Phoenix House, Oldham was announced for closure in February 2008 as part of HMRC’s earlier Regional Review Programme, and was partially vacated in November 2009 with the majority of staff relocating to Manchester and finally closed in May 2014.

    HMRC has not undertaken a separate value for money review on the closure of the office in Oldham. The Change Programme, of which the Regional Review Programme formed part, has been reviewed by the National Audit Office as part of its role to scrutinise public spending for Parliament to assess value for money. The NAO carried out a specific review on cost reduction within HMRC in 2013. The report can be found on the attached link. https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/HMRC-reducing-cost-full-report.pdf

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  • Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rob Marris on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of full-time equivalent staff at HM Revenue and Customs on 31 March (a) 2016 and (b) 2017.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) expects to be operating with around 60,000 full time equivalent (FTE) staff on 31 March 2016.

    HMRC’s Business Plan for 2016-17 is currently being finalised and will be published by the end of March 2016 on GOV.UK. This will contain estimated FTE figures for 31 March 2017 and future staffing projections.