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1252986

registered interest
date	17/11/2020
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
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 what was the average waiting time for callers to the self-assessment helpline  of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs in each month so far of the current tax year.
tabling member printed	Lord Oates
uin	HL10438
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/12/2020 answer text <p>HMRC publish information on average speed to answer monthly and quarterly. Breakdowns for individual helplines including self assessment are contained in the quarterly reports. Times for the Self Assessment helpline are provided below:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Month</p></td><td><p>April</p></td><td><p>May</p></td><td><p>June</p></td><td><p>July</p></td><td><p>August</p></td><td><p>September</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Mins: Seconds</p></td><td><p>14:10</p></td><td><p>24:14</p></td><td><p>12:57</p></td><td><p>10:46</p></td><td><p>13:07</p></td><td><p>08:42</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton question first answered 02/12/2020 13:46:10 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
tabling member	4549 label Biography information for Lord Oates

1252003

registered interest
date	16/11/2020
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Financial Services: Environment Protection
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement on the future of financial services by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 9 November (HC Deb, cols 619–21), what plans they have to consult on the new green taxonomy.
tabling member printed	Baroness Hayman
uin	HL10341
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/11/2020 answer text <p>The UK Taxonomy will use the EU framework which is already part of UK law, as amended by the EU Withdrawal Act. The UK will be establishing a Green Technical Advisory Group to advise the government on an ongoing basis on any improvements or additions that could be made to the taxonomy for the UK context. We will set out more details on this in due course.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton question first answered 30/11/2020 12:42:00 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
tabling member	1649 label Biography information for Baroness Hayman

1251107

registered interest
date	11/11/2020
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Self-employed
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reasons for the reduction in the number of people who are self-employed; and what steps, if any, they are taking to reverse the downward trend.
tabling member printed	Lord Jones of Cheltenham
uin	HL10231
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/11/2020 answer text <p>The UK has one of the most generous self-employed coronavirus support schemes in the world. The SEISS Grant Extension continues this critical support to the self-employed. The grant will be limited to self-employed individuals who are currently eligible for the SEISS and are actively continuing to trade but are facing reduced demand due to COVID-19. The extension will be in the form of two taxable grants. The first grant will cover a three-month period from the start of November until the end of January. This initial grant will cover 80% of average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering three months’ worth of profits for 1 November 2020 to 31 January 2020, and capped at £7,500 in total. The second grant will cover a three-month period from the start of February until the end of April. The Government will review the level of the second grant and set this in due course.</p><p> </p><p>Nonetheless, ONS data suggests the number of self-employed people dropped by 502,000 (a 10.0% drop) between December-February and July-September 2020.</p><p> </p><p>The Government continues to provide additional support to help people start their own business, or develop their business if they are already self-employed. The New Enterprise Allowance provides support including mentoring and an allowance. In order to be eligible, claimants must be aged over 18 and either they or their partner must receive Universal Credit, Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance, or they must receive Income Support and be a lone parent, sick or disabled.</p><p> </p><p>Those on the New Enterprise Allowance have a mentor who gives them advice and support to help them set up their business and start to trade. Once their mentor has approved their business plan they may get a weekly allowance worth up to £1,274 over 26 weeks and they can apply for a loan to help with start-up costs.</p><p> </p><p>Those who are already self-employed but not earning enough to move off Universal Credit completely can also benefit from the scheme. They may be able to get a mentor to give them advice and support to help them develop their business and apply for a start-up loan if their business is less than two years old.</p><p> </p><p>New Enterprise Allowance contracts are set to end in 2021. The Government is looking into a replacement offer, and hopes to announce more details in due course.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton question first answered 26/11/2020 12:27:45 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
tabling member	248 label Biography information for Lord Jones of Cheltenham

1251126

registered interest
date	11/11/2020
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Self-employed: Coronavirus
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Centre for Economic Performance Self Employed: Six Months into the Crisis, published on 10 November; and what steps they are taking to support self-employed workers.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL10252
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/11/2020 answer text The Government recognises the impact that the changing path of the virus has had on the self-employed and has taken action to increase the level of support available through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS).<p> </p><p>The third grant, covering November 2020 to January 2021, has now been increased to an overall level of 80 per cent of average trading profits, meaning that the maximum grant available has increased to £7,500. This provides equivalent support to the self-employed as is being provided for employees through the Government contribution in the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.</p><p> </p><p>This will provide an estimated £7.3bn of support to the self-employed through the period of November 2020 to January 2021 alone, with a further grant to follow covering February to April 2021. This places the SEISS among the most generous schemes for the self-employed in the world.</p><p> </p><p>The SEISS continues to be just one element of a comprehensive package of support for the self-employed. The Universal Credit standard allowance has been temporarily increased for 2020-21 and the Minimum Income Floor relaxed for the duration of the crisis, so that where self-employed claimants' earnings have fallen significantly, their Universal Credit award will have increased to reflect their lower earnings. In addition to this, they may also have access to other elements of the package, including Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support, mortgage holidays, self-isolation support payments and other business support grants.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton question first answered 26/11/2020 12:25:49 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1251143

registered interest
date	11/11/2020
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Research Councils: Finance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to exempt research councils from the one-year spending review so they can fund long-term projects.
tabling member printed	Lord Jones of Cheltenham
uin	HL10234
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/11/2020 answer text <p>To provide certainty to the research community, we are providing a multi-year settlement for UK Research and Innovation science.</p><p> </p><p>This includes increasing funding for core UK Research and Innovation science by 9% next year and £400 million on average per annum until 23-24. By 23-24, the government will be investing £1.4 billion more per annum in core funding for its world-leading research base compared to 20-21.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton question first answered 26/11/2020 12:24:13 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
tabling member	248 label Biography information for Lord Jones of Cheltenham

1250563

registered interest
date	10/11/2020
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Government Securities: Environment Protection
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to use green gilts to promote (1) waste recovery, and (2) energy generation from waste.
tabling member printed	Baroness McIntosh of Pickering
uin	HL10178
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/11/2020 answer text <p>On Monday 9 November, The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the UK’s intention is issue its inaugural Sovereign Green Bond (SGB), subject to market conditions, in 2021.</p><p> </p><p>Further details on timings and other aspects of the policy, such as the issuance framework, which will set out the projects that the SGB will help to finance, will be provided in due course.</p><p> </p><p>While it is possible that government expenditures on projects relating to waste recovery and energy generation from waste could be financed with the proceeds of the SGB, such decisions will be made in the coming months following discussions with other government departments, structuring advisors and other stakeholders. The government will provide updates as appropriate.</p><p> </p><p>The government is already taking powers in the Environment Bill to implement Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes which promote waste recovery. These require producers to fund the end of life costs of their products and can deliver higher collection, recycling and recovery rates.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Landfill Tax was introduced in 1996 with the aim of diverting waste away from landfill to more environmentally friendly alternatives, such as Energy from Waste. It has been hugely successful in achieving this aim alongside other waste policy – since 2000, Local Authority waste sent to landfill in England has fallen by 87%.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton question first answered 24/11/2020 15:21:33 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
tabling member	384 label Biography information for Baroness McIntosh of Pickering

1249777

registered interest
date	09/11/2020
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Public Expenditure
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the article by the Institute for Fiscal Studies Up to £10 billion of the Chancellor's 'Plan for Jobs' will be funded by underspends on previously planned projects, published on 16 July, how much money included in the Summer Economic Statement had not already been announced or included in previous economic statements; and what steps they are taking to improve the transparency and accuracy of fiscal announcements and statements.
tabling member printed	Baroness Randerson
uin	HL10091
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/11/2020 answer text <p>Since the start of the pandemic the government has provided support for people, businesses and public services worth more than £200 billion.</p><p>The Plan for Jobs in July set out ambitious capital investment plans to accelerate £8.6 billion of decarbonisation, infrastructure and maintenance projects. As set out in the Plan for Jobs document, this included £5.6 billion of infrastructure projects announced by the PM to start many projects sooner than previously planned. The package was to fund additional activity in 2020-21 and 2021-22, both by accelerating planned programmes and funding new projects to help support jobs and improve our infrastructure. It is funded by a mix of additional funding and underspends in 2020-21, with future years coming from the spending envelope announced at Budget. The Chancellor will be setting out further capital investment plans at the Spending Review, with details outlined in the accompanying document.</p><p>In the usual way, the Office for Budget Responsibility will provide their independent assessment of the effect of government policy on the economy and public finances when they publish their forecast alongside the Spending Review on 25 November.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton question first answered 23/11/2020 16:37:34 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
tabling member	4230 label Biography information for Baroness Randerson

1249789

registered interest
date	09/11/2020
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Tax Evasion
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish the number of (1) prosecutions, (2) convictions, and (3) fines, resulting from their investigations into the Panama papers.
tabling member printed	Lord Sikka
uin	HL10116
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/11/2020 answer text <p>To date, HMRC’s work on the Panama Papers has produced about £190 million in yield. Data from the Panama Papers has been fully brought into HMRC’s systems and the data continues to be used as part of their usual risking process.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC regularly publish details of prosecutions, convictions and fines and will look to do the same in relation to their Panama Papers work when it is appropriate to do so.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton question first answered 23/11/2020 16:29:09 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
tabling member	4885 label Biography information for Lord Sikka

1249790

registered interest
date	09/11/2020
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	PwC: Tax Avoidance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they have taken against PricewaterhouseCooper for any role played in implementing tax avoidance schemes exposed by the 'Luxembourg leaks'.
tabling member printed	Lord Sikka
uin	HL10117
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/11/2020 answer text <p>It is not possible for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to provide details of any action taken in connection with this or any named organisation, for reasons of taxpayer confidentiality.</p><p>Should any tax agent be found to be enabling or facilitating tax avoidance then HMRC will use the full range of tools available, which include strict financial penalties, criminal sanctions, and public interest disclosures.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC have reviewed all the documents relating to 142 taxpayers who had documents relating to their tax affairs disclosed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which have been referred to as the ‘Luxembourg Leaks’.</p><p> </p><p>This work did not reveal a single case of material information where either the detail of the transactions had not already been provided to HMRC, or when examined did any more than confirm HMRC’s understanding of particular arrangements that were already known to HMRC.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has taken resolute action since 2010 to clamp down on tax non-compliance and unfair outcomes. It has targeted a broad range of bad practice in order to ensure that everyone, from individuals to large multinationals, is required to pay the right amount at the right time.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton grouped question UIN HL10118 question first answered 23/11/2020 16:15:32 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
tabling member	4885 label Biography information for Lord Sikka

1249791

registered interest
date	09/11/2020
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Tax Avoidance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish the number of (1) prosecutions, (2) convictions, and (3) fines, resulting from their investigations into tax avoidance schemes exposed by the 'Luxembourg leaks'.
tabling member printed	Lord Sikka
uin	HL10118
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/11/2020 answer text <p>It is not possible for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to provide details of any action taken in connection with this or any named organisation, for reasons of taxpayer confidentiality.</p><p>Should any tax agent be found to be enabling or facilitating tax avoidance then HMRC will use the full range of tools available, which include strict financial penalties, criminal sanctions, and public interest disclosures.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC have reviewed all the documents relating to 142 taxpayers who had documents relating to their tax affairs disclosed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which have been referred to as the ‘Luxembourg Leaks’.</p><p> </p><p>This work did not reveal a single case of material information where either the detail of the transactions had not already been provided to HMRC, or when examined did any more than confirm HMRC’s understanding of particular arrangements that were already known to HMRC.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has taken resolute action since 2010 to clamp down on tax non-compliance and unfair outcomes. It has targeted a broad range of bad practice in order to ensure that everyone, from individuals to large multinationals, is required to pay the right amount at the right time.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton grouped question UIN HL10117 question first answered 23/11/2020 16:15:32 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
tabling member	4885 label Biography information for Lord Sikka