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  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) employees and (b) employers have taken advantage of savings to National Insurance contributions from salary sacrifice schemes for occupational pensions in each of the last five years.

    Damian Hinds

    Department for Work and Pensions has published estimates on salary sacrifice available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employers-pension-provision-survey-2013 Estimates are not available for the number of active members who take advantage of these schemes or the loss to the National Insurance Fund.

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  • Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the new electronic system of quarterly income tax reporting will allow small businesses to align their reporting with VAT returns.

    Mr David Gauke

    Making Tax Digital will simplify tax administration for small businesses. The Government believes VAT registered businesses should have the option to provide HMRC with one update to cover both VAT and their profits-based taxes. We will consult widely on the details of Making Tax Digital during 2016.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how he plans to assess the effectiveness of the implementation in the UK of the EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The EU’s fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (‘the Directive’) was formally adopted in June 2015, and Member States now have until June 2017 to transpose its requirements into national law. The Government plans to publish a consultation on transposition of the Directive by early spring which will run for a full 12 weeks. We will consult on areas where the Directive gives us options or discretion on how we transpose its provisions as well as areas where we can improve the UK’s anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime.

    Transposition of the Directive is just one element of the Government’s comprehensive Anti-Money Laundering regime. HM Treasury and Home Office are working closely on a forthcoming Action Plan to address the issues identified in the UK’s first National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, in order to increase the effectiveness of the AML/CFT regime. This work is overseen jointly by Home Office and Treasury Ministers.

    Scrutinising all aspects of the UK’s AML/CFT regime, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Mutual Evaluation of the United Kingdom will be the ultimate test of effectiveness and will take place in the course of 2017 and 2018. The FATF Mutual Evaluation will judge both the technical compliance and effectiveness of the UK’s AML/CFT regime. But the implementation of the Directive will be key to achieving a successful evaluation, as the Directive will enact the FATF standards into UK domestic law.

    By undertaking this work, we are further ensuring that our anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism regime is robust and sufficiently responsive to emerging threats.

  • Graham Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Graham Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on waste operators of planned changes to the Landfill Communities Fund.

    Damian Hinds

    The LCF is a tax credit scheme into which landfill operators contribute voluntarily. The impact of the changes to the LCF announced at Autumn Statement 2015 is set out in Reform and value of the Landfill Communities Fund. This document can be found here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reform-and-value-of-the-landfill-communities-fund/reform-and-value-of-the-landfill-communities-fund

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  • Graham Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Graham Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with waste operators on the effect of planned changes to the Landfill Communities Fund.

    Damian Hinds

    The government has received representations from a number of waste operators on this issue. We are taking views into consideration and our priority is to ensure that the LCF operates effectively and encourages money to be spent in the communities that need it.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it is his policy to change the rate of fuel duty applied to certain isolated and rural areas in response to changes in oil price.

    Damian Hinds

    The rural fuel duty rebate scheme offers a 5 pence per litre discount on fuel duty for fuel sold in qualifying areas. The rebate does not vary with the price of wholesale oil.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to provide assistance to people who have purchased homes under the Help to Buy scheme in the event that interest rates subsequently rise.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government does not have any plans to provide additional assistance to those who have purchased a home under the Help to Buy scheme, in the event of a rise in interest rates.

    Since April 2014, lenders have had to conduct an affordability assessment which includes a robust income and expenditure analysis. In addition, lenders must consider the impact of future interest rate increases on affordability.

    This ensures that mortgages are only advanced where there is a reasonable expectation that the customer can repay.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effect of civil service redundancies in the last 12 months on the effectiveness of departments’ work.

    Matthew Hancock

    To remain the best in the world, the Civil Service needs to respond to both the challenges and opportunities of our times.The Civil Service continues to require new and different skills to respond to the fiscal environment, global competition and changes in technology, whilst at the same time delivering better services more efficiently: in short, doing more for less.

    The size of the Civil Service has already reduced by 20% since March 2010 and has helped save taxpayers £2.8bn over the last Parliament. Despite this reduction in numbers, employee engagement rates were higher in 2015 than in 2010 and departments have successfully maintained delivery of our public services.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will ensure that charity commissions across the UK collaborate to ensure that extremist groups are unable to obtain charitable status.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    There are three bodies that regulate charities in the UK; the Charity Commission for England and Wales, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) and the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. In all three jurisdictions organisations must be established for exclusively charitable purposes to be recognised and registered as charities. All applications to register an organisation as a charity are determined by whether or not an organisation meets the legal test for registration. All three bodies have robust processes for assessing any application for registration as a charity. The three regulators regularly meet to discuss areas of common concern and have provisions in their respective legislation which facilitates the exchange of information to assist and enable another to discharge their statutory functions.

  • Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will commission an assessment of the potential economic impact on Oldham of the reduction in Oldham’s public estate.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Government Property Unit is working closely with Oldham Council and others across Greater Manchester on future plans across the public sector estate. Oldham Council is part of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Partnership on the One Public Estate Programme. The programme, delivered by Cabinet Office and the Local Government Association, aims to maximise local economic growth from better use of public assets. 108 councils have recently joined a third phase of the programme. Together, they expect to generate £172 million capital receipts, reduce running costs by £65 million, and create 30,000 new homes and 43,000 new jobs over the next 5 years.