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417094

	registered interest
	date	07/09/2015
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
	hansard heading	Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 30 July (HL1654), whether HM Revenue and Customs has target times by which members of the public can reasonably expect to get through on the telephone and speak to an official; and by what percentage extent there has been a change over the past three years in the number of telephone calls from the public seeking information or assistance from that Department.
	tabling member printed	Lord Quirk
	uin	HL2014
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/09/2015 answer text <p>As stated in an earlier response (HL897), HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publishes its performance data quarterly on the gov.uk website.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>HMRC handles 50 million calls a year from customers. It aims to answer 80 per cent of all calls and accepts that it is not currently delivering on that aspiration. HMRC published a press release on 25 June in which it apologised for the poor service, acknowledged that some customers were struggling to get through on the telephone and outlined a number of initiatives it is putting in place to improve performance.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bridges of Headley question first answered 21/09/2015 15:54:07 question first ministerially corrected 22/09/2015 14:57:41 answering member 4535 label Biography information for Lord Bridges of Headley previous answer version 22479 answering member printed Lord Bridges answering member 3524
	tabling member	3254 label Biography information for Lord Quirk

417025

	registered interest
	date	07/09/2015
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
	hansard heading	Public Expenditure
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether decisions on the next Comprehensive Spending Review will be taken before the outcome of the next Strategic Defence and Security Review.
	tabling member printed	Lord West of Spithead
	uin	HL1945
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/09/2015 answer text <p>The Spending Review will be published on 25<sup>th</sup> November, and work is currently underway on the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) which we expect to publish before the end of the year. These reviews will be closely aligned, recognising that economic security and national security are two sides of the same coin.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>At the Summer Budget, the Government committed to increased spending on defence and security, and to meet the properly measured NATO pledge to spend 2 per cent of GDP on defence every year of this decade. The allocation of a Joint Security Fund of up to an additional £1.5 billion per year by 2020/21, available to the Armed Forces and Security and Intelligence agencies, will also be based on the conclusions of the SDSR.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bridges of Headley question first answered 21/09/2015 15:53:26 question first ministerially corrected 22/09/2015 14:57:30 answering member 4535 label Biography information for Lord Bridges of Headley previous answer version 22475 answering member printed Lord Bridges answering member 3524
	tabling member	3834 label Biography information for Lord West of Spithead

416945

	registered interest
	date	07/09/2015
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
	hansard heading	Minimum Wage
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many staff are employed by HM Revenue and Customs to enforce the national minimum wage; how many cases have been brought since 7 May 2014 in respect of alleged failure to pay the national minimum wage; and what is the total amount of fines (1) imposed, and (2) collected, since 7 May 2014 in respect of cases of failure to pay the national minimum wage.
	tabling member printed	Lord Beecham
	uin	HL1865
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/09/2015 answer text <p>The government is committed to increasing compliance with minimum wage legislation and effective enforcement of it. Everyone who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it. Employers who pay workers less than the minimum wage not only have to pay back arrears of wages at current minimum wage rates but also face financial penalties of up to £20,000 per underpaid worker.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>There are currently 232 staff working in National Minimum Wage for HM Revenue &amp; Customs (HMRC), up from 171 at the start of 2014/15. The government takes the enforcement of National Minimum Wage very seriously and has increased funding from £8m in 2013/14 to £13.2m in 2015/16.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Civil penalties were introduced on 6 April 2009 for employers who are found to have underpaid their workers. The following table provides a breakdown of penalties issued by year:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Penalties issued</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009-10</p></td><td><p>£111,183</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010-11</p></td><td><p>£520,568</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-12</p></td><td><p>£766,807</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>£776,517</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013-14</p></td><td><p>£815,269</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014-15</p></td><td><p>£934,660</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The vast majority of employers pay penalties upon being issued with a Notice of Underpayment. Where they do not, HMRC will seek to recover through the civil recovery route.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In the period 2009/10 –2014/15, HMRC issued penalties totalling nearly £4m, of which less than 2% is currently uncollected and is being actively pursued through civil recovery processes.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>HMRC do not hold data in a format to be able to provide information on unpaid arrears for the time range specified. It is not possible to identify a specific timescale of when a penalty was issued in relation to the time debt management processes took place.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bridges of Headley question first answered 22/09/2015 15:07:30 answering member 4535 label Biography information for Lord Bridges of Headley
	tabling member	4181 label Biography information for Lord Beecham

381040

	registered interest
	date	15/06/2015
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	NHS: VAT
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much was paid in 2013–14 to compensate the National Health Service for irrecoverable VAT.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
	uin	HL488
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/06/2015 answer text <p>It is not possible to isolate the tax component from the overall funding for healthcare. However, VAT refunded to the NHS Trusts and Health Authorities by virtue of section 41(3) of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 is estimated at £1.9 billion in 2013/14. The figure was similar in 2010.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bridges of Headley question first answered 30/06/2015 15:50:25 answering member 4535 label Biography information for Lord Bridges of Headley
	tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

417886

	registered interest
	date	09/09/2015
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
	hansard heading	Public Sector Debt
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for each year from 2003–4 to 2014–15 inclusive, (1) what was the national debt, expressed in (a) monetary terms, and (b) as a percentage of gross domestic product, and (2) what interest was paid on that debt, expressed in (a) monetary terms, and (b) in per capita terms.
	tabling member printed	Lord Kinnock
	uin	HL2119
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/09/2015 answer text <p>In 2010 the coalition government inherited a deficit of 10.2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) – the largest since the Second World War. With such a high deficit, it is inevitable that debt has continued to rise. Over the last parliament the government made substantial progress towards stabilising the public finances, halving the deficit from its post-war peak to 5 per cent of GDP in 2014-15. The Office for Budget Responsibility have forecast that debt as a percentage of GDP peaked in 2014/15, and this year will fall for the first time in 14 years as a result of the government’s actions.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The table below provides Public Sector Net Debt (excluding public sector banks) and debt interest expenditure figures for each year in the period 2003/04 to 2014/15. For net debt, the figures are provided in both nominal terms and as a percentage of GDP; for debt interest, the figures are given in nominal terms and pounds sterling per capita.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td colspan="2"><p>Public Sector Net Debt<sup>1</sup></p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Debt Interest<sup>2</sup></p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><p>£ billion</p></td><td><p>% of GDP</p></td><td><p>£ billion</p></td><td><p>£ per capita</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2003/04</p></td><td><p>394.2</p></td><td><p>31.8</p></td><td><p>22.0</p></td><td><p>367</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2004/05</p></td><td><p>449.2</p></td><td><p>34.4</p></td><td><p>24.6</p></td><td><p>407</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2005/06</p></td><td><p>492.0</p></td><td><p>35.5</p></td><td><p>26.3</p></td><td><p>432</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2006/07</p></td><td><p>529.3</p></td><td><p>36.2</p></td><td><p>28.6</p></td><td><p>466</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2007/08</p></td><td><p>561.5</p></td><td><p>36.9</p></td><td><p>31.2</p></td><td><p>505</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2008/09</p></td><td><p>727.7</p></td><td><p>49.2</p></td><td><p>31.5</p></td><td><p>506</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>959.8</p></td><td><p>62.2</p></td><td><p>31.6</p></td><td><p>503</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010/11</p></td><td><p>1102.5</p></td><td><p>68.8</p></td><td><p>46.6</p></td><td><p>736</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>1192.0</p></td><td><p>72.3</p></td><td><p>49.7</p></td><td><p>780</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>1300.0</p></td><td><p>76.8</p></td><td><p>48.9</p></td><td><p>762</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>1403.2</p></td><td><p>79.1</p></td><td><p>48.7</p></td><td><p>753</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p>1486.5</p></td><td><p>80.8</p></td><td><p>45.2</p></td><td><p>696</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="5"><p>1: Excluding public sector banks; by convention, GDP is a 12 month average centred at the financial year end. Source: ONS.</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="5"><p>2: The per capita figure is calculated by dividing debt interest in £'s by the ONS estimate of the size of the UK population at the financial year end. Note that the population estimate for 2014/15 is a forecast, based on the latest ONS projections. Source: ONS.</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bridges of Headley question first answered 23/09/2015 15:34:52 answering member 4535 label Biography information for Lord Bridges of Headley
	tabling member	693 label Biography information for Lord Kinnock

418178

	registered interest
	date	10/09/2015
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
	hansard heading	Inheritance Tax: Siblings
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 9 September (HL Deb, cols 1427–9), whether they will publish full details of how the family home allowance announced in the 2015 Budget will affect siblings who have joint ownership of their home.
	tabling member printed	Lord Lexden
	uin	HL2149
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/09/2015 answer text <p>All individuals have an inheritance tax threshold (or ‘nil rate band’), currently £325,000, which is the value below which an estate does not have to pay any inheritance tax. The Summer Budget 2015 announced that from April 2017, a new additional transferable residence nil-rate band of £175,000 is being phased in for individuals who leave their home on death to their children, grandchildren or other direct descendants. Together with the existing nil-rate band this means that most individuals will have an effective inheritance tax threshold of up to £500,000 each.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The long standing spouse exemption means that any transfers of assets between spouses or civil partners are exempt from inheritance tax. The Government has no plans to change the inheritance tax treatment of long-term cohabiting and co-dependent siblings.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Where a property is jointly owned by siblings, the individual sibling’s share of the property will be included in their estate for inheritance tax purposes. Each individual’s estate is considered separately and the position for siblings is the same as for other co-habiting individuals.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Full details of the legislation relating to the new residence allowance announced in the Summer Budget 2015 can be found at clause 9 of the Summer Finance Bill. Guidance will be published nearer the time that the new allowance comes into effect.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bridges of Headley grouped question UIN HL2150 question first answered 23/09/2015 15:35:09 answering member 4535 label Biography information for Lord Bridges of Headley
	tabling member	4202 label Biography information for Lord Lexden

418179

	registered interest
	date	10/09/2015
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
	hansard heading	Inheritance Tax: Siblings
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 9 September (HL Deb, cols 1427–9), what is the position of siblings who live together in jointly owned property under current inheritance tax laws.
	tabling member printed	Lord Lexden
	uin	HL2150
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/09/2015 answer text <p>All individuals have an inheritance tax threshold (or ‘nil rate band’), currently £325,000, which is the value below which an estate does not have to pay any inheritance tax. The Summer Budget 2015 announced that from April 2017, a new additional transferable residence nil-rate band of £175,000 is being phased in for individuals who leave their home on death to their children, grandchildren or other direct descendants. Together with the existing nil-rate band this means that most individuals will have an effective inheritance tax threshold of up to £500,000 each.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The long standing spouse exemption means that any transfers of assets between spouses or civil partners are exempt from inheritance tax. The Government has no plans to change the inheritance tax treatment of long-term cohabiting and co-dependent siblings.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Where a property is jointly owned by siblings, the individual sibling’s share of the property will be included in their estate for inheritance tax purposes. Each individual’s estate is considered separately and the position for siblings is the same as for other co-habiting individuals.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Full details of the legislation relating to the new residence allowance announced in the Summer Budget 2015 can be found at clause 9 of the Summer Finance Bill. Guidance will be published nearer the time that the new allowance comes into effect.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bridges of Headley grouped question UIN HL2149 question first answered 23/09/2015 15:35:08 answering member 4535 label Biography information for Lord Bridges of Headley
	tabling member	4202 label Biography information for Lord Lexden

418181

	registered interest
	date	10/09/2015
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
	hansard heading	Sugar: Taxation
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take in response to the recently introduced taxes on sugary drinks by the governments of Mexico, France, Finland and Hungary.
	tabling member printed	Lord Pendry
	uin	HL2152
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/09/2015 answer text <p>The Government has no plans to introduce new taxes on sugary drinks. The Government is committed to using a range of approaches to promote health outcomes, and will publish a Childhood Obesity Strategy by the end of the year.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bridges of Headley question first answered 23/09/2015 15:35:18 answering member 4535 label Biography information for Lord Bridges of Headley
	tabling member	457 label Biography information for Lord Pendry