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31321

	registered interest
	date	07/01/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with UKAR regarding the potential effect on customers of a rise in interest rates.
	tabling member constituency	Kilmarnock and Loudoun
	tabling member printed	Cathy Jamieson
	uin	182195
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2014 answer text <p>This Government's long term economic plan has kept interest rates at record lows for hardworking people across the country.</p><p> </p><p>Many lenders impose affordability stress tests on their mortgage lending decisions to ensure that the mortgage will remain affordable should interest rates rise. The Financial Conduct Authority's Mortgage Market Review rules, which came into force in April this year will require all mortgage lenders to conduct such a stress test.</p><p> </p><p>Although UKAR does not engage in new lending, UKAR runs a range of modelling scenarios to understand the potential effects of interest rate rises on customers. This work helps UKAR to identify customers who may be susceptible to higher interest rates and to engage with such customers at an early stage.</p><p> </p><p>UKAR assists all customers who wish to switch mortgage providers.</p><p> </p><p>NRAM and Bradford and Bingley are managed by UK Asset Resolution Limited (UKAR) which was established in 2010 to manage the disposal and rundown of outstanding assets at Bradford &amp; Bingley and Northern Rock Asset Management in an integrated way, with a view to creating value for the taxpayer. UKAR is managed at arm's length from Government, on commercial principles.</p><p> </p><p>It is therefore not for the Chancellor to discuss detailed commercial matters with UKAR.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom grouped question UIN 182196 question first answered 13/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
	tabling member	4011 label Biography information for Cathy Jamieson

31322

	registered interest
	date	07/01/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of an interest rate rise on customers whose mortgages are held by UKAR; and what support is available to assist such customers to switch providers.
	tabling member constituency	Kilmarnock and Loudoun
	tabling member printed	Cathy Jamieson
	uin	182196
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2014 answer text <p>This Government's long term economic plan has kept interest rates at record lows for hardworking people across the country.</p><p> </p><p>Many lenders impose affordability stress tests on their mortgage lending decisions to ensure that the mortgage will remain affordable should interest rates rise. The Financial Conduct Authority's Mortgage Market Review rules, which came into force in April this year will require all mortgage lenders to conduct such a stress test.</p><p> </p><p>Although UKAR does not engage in new lending, UKAR runs a range of modelling scenarios to understand the potential effects of interest rate rises on customers. This work helps UKAR to identify customers who may be susceptible to higher interest rates and to engage with such customers at an early stage.</p><p> </p><p>UKAR assists all customers who wish to switch mortgage providers.</p><p> </p><p>NRAM and Bradford and Bingley are managed by UK Asset Resolution Limited (UKAR) which was established in 2010 to manage the disposal and rundown of outstanding assets at Bradford &amp; Bingley and Northern Rock Asset Management in an integrated way, with a view to creating value for the taxpayer. UKAR is managed at arm's length from Government, on commercial principles.</p><p> </p><p>It is therefore not for the Chancellor to discuss detailed commercial matters with UKAR.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom grouped question UIN 182195 question first answered 13/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
	tabling member	4011 label Biography information for Cathy Jamieson

32172

	registered interest
	date	09/01/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion and value of his Department's contracts have been let (a) under the restricted procedure, (b) by the open procedure, (c) via framework agreements and (d) via a tendering process involving the use of a pre-qualification questionnaire in each of the last three years.
	tabling member constituency	Nottingham East
	tabling member printed	Chris Leslie
	uin	182696
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2014 answer text <p>Since January 2011, central government departments have been required to publish on Contracts Finder information on the tenders issued and contracts they award with a value over £10,000 (excluding VAT) (www.gov.uk/contractsfinder).</p><p> </p><p>Public Procurement Regulations require that prescribed procurement procedures are used when procurements exceed the EU contract threshold values. This legal framework helps to ensure that public procurement is conducted in a fair and open manner both within the UK and across the EU.</p><p> </p><p>Less than two percent of all contracts were let under the restricted procedure in each of the last three years.</p><p> </p><p>In 2010/11 there was one contract let under the restricted procedure. This was for actuarial support to the independent commission on Equitable Life Payments that was set up by this government to recommend how best to fairly allocate funds provided for the Equitable Life Payments Scheme (ELPS) and had a contract value of £1million.</p><p> </p><p>In 2011/12 there were two contracts let under the restricted procedure. They were (i) Corporate Financial Advice framework contract (estimated contract value of £5 million over the 2 years but no guaranteed spend)and (ii) a contract for actuarial support for (ELPS) in making fair and transparent payments to Equitable Life policyholders who suffered financial losses as a result of Government maladministration which occurred in the regulation of Equitable Life. The contract value was £5.4 million.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The information requested for the proportion and value of HM Treasury contracts that have been let via framework agreements and where a tendering process involving the use of a pre-qualification questionnaire in each of the last three years is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 07/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
	tabling member	422 label Biography information for Mr Chris Leslie

36720

	registered interest
	date	04/02/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of (a) permanent, (b) temporary and (c) contract staff in his Department as paid the living wage or above.
	tabling member constituency	Bradford East
	tabling member printed	Mr David Ward
	uin	186697
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2014 answer text <p>100% of permanent and temporary staff at HM Treasury are paid the Living Wage or above.</p><p> </p><p>HM Treasury fully complies with EU procurement directives and awards contracts on the basis of the best value for money for the taxpayer. Nevertheless, we have encouraged contractors to commit to paying a living wage and expect all employers to pay at least the national minimum wage.</p><p> </p><p>The Government supports businesses that choose to pay the Living Wage however the Government's main policy on wages is the National Minimum Wage, which has continued to protect the relative wages of the low paid. This is independently set by the Low Pay Commission at a level that maximises their wages without reducing employment prospect. It is for workers and employers to decide the level of wages above the minimum wage based on current circumstances. This includes the Government as a procurer and an employer. Over 95%, around 20 million employees earn above the minimum wage and the majority of public sector workers currently earn above the Living Wage.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 07/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
	tabling member	3923 label Biography information for Mr David Ward

38564

	registered interest
	date	12/02/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the size, in square metres, of the offices assigned to each of his Department's Ministers is; and how many officials, at what grade, work in the private offices of each of his Department's Ministers.
	tabling member constituency	North Durham
	tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
	uin	188327
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2014 answer text <p>I can confirm that Ministers have a total of 256.08 sq m of office space currently assigned to them.</p><p> </p><p>In total, there are 35staff working in ministerial offices, compared to 38 members of staff in 2009. This is as follows:</p><p> </p><p>Range B: 6</p><p>Range C: 8</p><p>Range D: 13</p><p>Range E: 5</p><p>Range E2: 2</p><p>SCS: 1</p><p> </p><p>These figures are based on the latest data available for staffing numbers for HMT Treasury as of May 2014.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 14/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
	tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

41405

	registered interest
	date	05/03/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what contingency plans are in place for the future administration of Premium Bonds currently administered in Scotland and held by residents in England, Northern Ireland and Wales in the event of Scottish independence; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Northfield
	tabling member printed	Richard Burden
	uin	190813
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2014 answer text <p><strong>National Savings and Investments (NS&amp;I) is a UK institution, operating from a number of sites within the UK and abroad. </strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>The powers governing NS&amp;I products come from UK primary and secondary legislation. Only individuals with a UK bank account are eligible to buy NS&amp;I products. In the event of independence, the current rules would prohibit individuals with only a Scottish bank account from buying NS&amp;I products. </strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>Any changes to these rules would depend on negotiations between the UK and Scottish governments in the event of independence. Both governments have said that there can be no pre-negotiations on what the terms of independence might be before the referendum takes place.</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>The UK government believes that Scotland is better off as part of the UK, and the UK is better off with Scotland in it.</strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey answering member printed Danny Alexander question first answered 14/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1535 label Biography information for Danny Alexander
	tabling member	301 label Biography information for Richard Burden

33825

	registered interest
	date	20/01/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many employers participated in the regional employer National Insurance contributions holiday in each region.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff South and Penarth
	tabling member printed	Stephen Doughty
	uin	184094
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2014 answer text <p>This Government is committed to helping UK businesses grow and create jobs. The NICs holiday was a temporary, targeted scheme to help start ups take on new staff within their first year of trading. Although take up was lower than expected, the holiday benefitted over 26,000 businesses and supported over 90,000 jobs.</p><p> </p><p>Building on the lessons learnt from the holiday, we are taking action to reduce the employer NICs burden on small businesses and have created the new Employment Allowance which is simple to administer, permanent and available to all business and charities in the UK, this is reducing their employer NICs bill by up to £2,000 each year. As a result, 450,000 employers will pay no NICs at all in 2014-15.</p><p> </p><p>According to the latest available figures the break down of employers that applied for the National Insurance Holiday by region, throughout the scheme is as follows:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Region</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Northern Ireland</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>1265</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Scotland</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>3975</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Wales</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>1695</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>East Midlands</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2645</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>North East</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>1840</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>North West</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>4840</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>South West</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>3975</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>West Midlands</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>3100</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Yorks</strong><strong>. And Humber</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>3265</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>26600</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The NICs Holiday attracted around 26,600 applicants over a three year period. Further statistical information on the scheme is available on a factsheet at: <a href="http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/nics-hol.htm" target="_blank">http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/nics-hol.htm</a>. The factsheet only covers periods from the start of the scheme to December 2012.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke question first answered 13/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
	tabling member	4264 label Biography information for Stephen Doughty

37341

	registered interest
	date	06/02/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the additional revenue secured since 2010 as a result of changes to the IR35 tax regulations affecting the self-employed.
	tabling member constituency	Hertford and Stortford
	tabling member printed	Mr Mark Prisk
	uin	187119
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/04/2014 answer text <p>The intermediaries' legislation, known as IR35, does not apply to the self-employed, rather it applies to those providing their services through an intermediary (normally a limited company) who if it were not for the intermediary would otherwise be considered an employee of the client. IR35 ensures that under such circumstances broadly the same tax and National Insurance contributions are paid as if the individual were directly employed.</p><p> </p><p>A very minor change to the IR35 legislation was made in 2010 in consequence of the Corporation Taxes Act 2010.</p><p> </p><p>HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have currently four specialist compliance teams which undertake investigations of intermediaries (commonly called personal service companies) operating across all sectors where potential non-compliance with IR35 is suspected. These teams form part of a restructuring of HMRC's administration of IR35 following recommendations in March 2011 by the Office of Tax Simplification. Revenue secured under IR35 from this direct compliance activity between 6 April 2010 and 5 April 2013 is £2.519m. Figures for 2013/14 are not currently available.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke question first answered 09/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
	tabling member	1424 label Biography information for Mr Mark Prisk

41436

	registered interest
	date	05/03/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many fines have been issued to employers in (a) Leeds North West constituency, (b) West Yorkshire, (c) Yorkshire and the Humber for not paying the national minimum wage since March 2013; and what the total value of fines is in each such area.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
	tabling member printed	Greg Mulholland
	uin	190684
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p>The Government takes the enforcement of NMW very seriously and HMRC enforce the national minimum wage legislation on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and has done so since the introduction of NMW in April 1999. It does that by investigating all complaints made about employers suspected of not paying the minimum wage, in addition carrying out targeted enforcement where it identifies a high risk of non-payment of NMW across the whole of the UK.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC does not capture complaints or the outcomes of its investigations by reference to Government regions, constituencies or county. Its management information relates to the work of teams who are multi-located. Additionally, because it resources to risk, work relating to a specific geographical area is not always done by the NMW team based in that area.</p><p> </p><p>Prior to 6 April 2009, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) issued penalty notices to those employers who failed to comply, within 28 days, with an enforcement notice. A new enforcement regime, introduced in April 2009, saw the introduction of automatic penalties for employers who are found to have underpaid their workers. Between 1<sup>st</sup> April 2013 and 28<sup>th</sup> February, HMRC has issued 561 penalties for non payment of national minimum wage, with a combined value of £671,524.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
	tabling member	1540 label Biography information for Greg Mulholland

42365

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department made before the 2012 Budget of the number of properties valued at more than (a) £2 million and (b) £5 million.
	tabling member constituency	Dover
	tabling member printed	Charlie Elphicke
	uin	191427
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2014 answer text <p>The number of residential properties in the UK valued at more than £2 million was estimated before Budget 2012 to be around 55,000.</p><p> </p><p>Before Budget 2012, an assessment of the average annual payment required from each property above £2 million in order to raise a net sum of £2 billion per annum was not made.</p><p> </p><p>On 1 July 2013, during Report stage of the Finance Bill, I referred to “a simple calculation arrived at by dividing £2 billion by 55,000 (an internal HMRC estimate of the number of properties valued at over £2 million) to give a ‘mean' average of £36,000.”</p><p> </p><p>A so-called mansion tax would depress stamp duty land tax and inheritance tax yields. The exact impact would be dependent on the rates and bands chosen.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke grouped question UIN 191429 191430 question first answered 13/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
	tabling member	3971 label Biography information for Charlie Elphicke