Tag: Rebecca Long-Bailey

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of tax credit claimants who will be migrated to universal credit in each year to 2020-21.

Priti Patel

The government is committed to moving the UK from a high tax, high welfare, low wage society to a lower tax, lower welfare, higher wage society. This remains the case, and Universal Credit (UC) is delivering this.

UC is fundamentally different from the current legacy benefit system and supports people into work and encourages them to earn more.

Therefore there is no meaningful way of comparing an unreformed Tax Credit system with UC. The Government has committed to transitional arrangements as we reform the benefits and Tax Credit system. Those transferred by DWP from tax credits to UC will receive Transitional Protection. In addition, estimates of entitlements under UC of the sort requested will vary depending on assumptions on the level of earnings.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-12-10.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps HM Revenue and Customs is talking to ensure that payroll taxes are collected from employers who pay wages in cash; what recent estimate he has made of the number of (a) employers using cash in hand for payroll and (b) employees receiving wages in cash; and what information he holds on the prevalence of payment of wages in cash in different sectors.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) takes a risk-based approach to employer compliance interventions, checking that employers and contractors have complied with their tax obligations. There are a variety of methods by which employers make payment to their employees, and HMRC will check wages have been received net of the appropriate tax and National Insurance Contributions deductions as part of our compliance intervention activity, regardless of the method of payment. Where this activity identifies that there may be non-compliance with other taxes, HMRC takes steps to address this risk.

Where inaccuracies are found, HMRC will consider whether a penalty is appropriate based on the behaviour which led to the inaccuracy. The penalty will be highest in circumstances in which the behaviour which led to the inaccuracy was deliberate.

HMRC is conducting research into the role of cash in facilitating non-compliance, and into the trends which are likely to change that role. As part of this work, on 25 November 2015 HMRC published a call for evidence on cash, tax evasion and the hidden economy, which seeks a better understanding of what implications the trend away from cash has for tax compliance.

The call for evidence is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/cash-tax-evasion-and-the-hidden-economy-call-for-evidence

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the departmental settlement for his Department for this Spending Review period included any specific allocation of funds for ex gratia payments to victims of contaminated blood in future financial years.

Jane Ellison

The £25 million, announced by the Prime Minister in March 2015 to support transition to a reformed scheme, will remain available in 2016-17. We are assessing what can be allocated above and beyond that. We expect to announce our plans for that money once we have a better understanding of what wider scheme reform might comprise following the outcome of consultation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many people are employed by his Department in (a) Salford and Eccles constituency and (b) Greater Manchester.

Joseph Johnson

The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills HQ, as at 31 January 2016, employed (a) no people in Salford and Eccles constituency and (b) 38 people in Greater Manchester.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-03-01.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Government’s memorandum submitted to the Lords Secondary Legislation Committee on 28 January, how many of the 800,000 tax credit claimants with a reduced award to an income rise above the new level of disregard are women.

Damian Hinds

From April 2016, the income rise disregard – the amount by which a tax credit claimant’s income can increase within a year before their tax credit award is adjusted – will be reduced from £5,000 to £2,500.

The only people who will be affected by this will be those who see an increase in their in-year income by more than £2,500. There will be no net cash losers because their income will have increased.

In the subsequent tax year, a claimant’s tax credits award will be calculated in the usual way, using their full annual income for the previous year to determine their tax credit entitlement. This means that after the change in the tax year, whether the claimant’s increase in income was above or below the disregard level, their tax credit award for the following year will be adjusted to what it would have been had no disregard existed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-03-24.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.19 of the report, Overview of Tax Legislation and Rates, published on 16 March 2016, which technologies his Department is considering (a) adding and (b) removing from the list of qualifying technologies for the first-year allowance scheme for energy-saving and environmentally-beneficial technologies.

Damian Hinds

At Budget 2016, the Government announced changes to 100 percent enhanced capital allowances for energy-saving and environmentally-beneficial (water-efficient) technologies.

Each autumn, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) consult manufacturers and suppliers. DECC and Defra then recommend to Treasury Ministers updates to the schemes.

Details of the changes will be set out in Treasury Order 2001/2541 for energy and 2003/2076 for water in the next few months. As is routine, an impact assessment will be published alongside the Order.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-05-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the purpose is of the training provided by the UK armed forces to the security and armed forces personnel of Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Penny Mordaunt

The UK Armed Forces do not currently provide any training to security and Armed Forces personnel of Burundi or the Democratic Republic of Congo.

We provide some limited training to the Rwandan Armed Forces, largely at the Rwandan Peace Academy and Staff College and through occasional places at UK staff colleges. This training is in support of security sector reform and effective and compliant Rwandan contributions to peace support and disaster relief operations.

We also deliver training to the African Union’s Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF), as part of our effort to build the EASF’s capacity to conduct peace support operations. This training includes elements such as protection of civilians and civil and military cooperation. Some Burundian and Rwandan Armed Forces personnel attached to the EASF may attend this training.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to prevent human rights abuses against the Oromo people in Ethiopia; and what recent representations he has made to his Ethiopian counterpart on that issue.

James Duddridge

We remain deeply concerned about the handling of demonstrations in Oromia, including the reported deaths of a number of protestors, and about those detained under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation. We have repeatedly made representations to the Ethiopian Government over the situation in that region. Justine Greening, the Secretary of State for International Development, raised our concerns with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on 21 January and Her Majesty’s Ambassador last raised the issue with Prime Minister Hailemariam on 26 April.

I met with Dr Tedros at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa on 27 January. I raised the UK’s concerns with regards to the human rights situation. We will continue to raise our concerns with the Government of Ethiopia both through our bilateral engagement, most notably through our ongoing Human Rights Dialogue, as well as jointly with our international partners.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has been appointed to look into the handling of the protests in Oromia. We will not pre-judge the outcome of their investigation and we await the publication of their report. We will continue to urge the EHRC and the Government of Ethiopia to ensure that their report is credible, transparent and leads to concrete action. We will take a view on what further lobbying, if any, might be appropriate following the publication of the EHRC report.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding his Department provides to support new NHS dental practices in areas with inadequate provision.

David Mowat

NHS Dentistry is commissioned by NHS England following a local oral health needs assessment undertaken in partnership with Local authorities and other partner organisations. Local services are then commissioned to meet local needs, NHS England determines how best to use its resources to meet this need.

NHS dental services are commissioned by NHS England through contracts with independent providers. These contracts are set on the basis of the oral health needs assessment, which identifies the level of dental need for a particular community and pays particular attention to access to local dental services and the dental health of the local population. There is considerable variation in oral health across England and so there are no national standards for the number of dental practices per head of population.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-11-13.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average duration of a claim for tax credits was in Salford in the most recent (a) three and (b) six months for which data is available.

Damian Hinds

The answers are only available at disproportionate cost.