Written questions by Holden.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 July 2024 to Question 1811 on Taxation, what the tax gap of (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2022-3 is adjusted for inflation in (i) 2005-06 and (ii) 2022-23 real terms.

The UK tax gap in 2022-23 is estimated to be 4.8% of total theoretical tax liabilities, or £39.8 billion in absolute terms. The tax gap has fallen from 7.4% of total theoretical liabilities in 2005-06, or £32.4bn in absolute terms.The 2005-06 and 2022-23 tax gap estimates can be adjusted for inflation using the published GDP deflators available at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gdp-deflators-at-market-prices-and-money-gdp-june-2024-quarterly-national-accountsThe government is committed to tackling the tax gap, through increasing HMRC's compliance staff, investing in HMRC’s technology infrastructure, and making policy changes to tackle tax non-compliance. The government will set out further details at the budget.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 July 2024 to Question 1812 on Pay: Young People, if she will make these calculations.

I refer the Rt Hon. member to the publicly-available data sources listed in response to his previous question, from which further calculations can be made. The statistics requested can be calculated for a typical worker on the minimum wage using the following data sources: average hours from ONS dataset HOUR01; inflation from ONS CPI series D7BT; historic Income Tax liabilities from HMRC, “Income Tax Personal Allowances and Reliefs”; historic National Insurance liabilities from HMRC, “Main Features of National Insurance Contributions”. Links can be found on the GOV.UK Website here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/actualweeklyhoursworkedseasonallyadjustedhour01sa https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/timeseries/d7bt/mm23 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-income-tax/income-tax-rates-and-allowances-current-and-past https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-features-of-national-insurance-contributions

What estimate her Department has made of the potential (a) cost of and (b) return per pound spent on each scheme in the (i) Strategic Road Network and (ii) Major Road Network and Large Local Major Programmes (A) that is at (1) planning and (2) construction stage and (B) the cancellation of which was announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in her statement on Spending inheritance on 29 July 2024.

The total estimated cost of committed schemes in the Roads Investment Strategy (RIS) at planning stage (excluding Lower Thames Crossing) is £8.5 billion, and for schemes under construction the total is £4.1 billion. The total estimated cost of the schemes in the Major Road Network (MRN) and Large Local Major (LLM) Programmes at planning stage is £6.2 billion and for schemes under construction the total is £1.2 billion. The value for money of the enhancement schemes in the second RIS programme (RIS2), including those already completed, is estimated to be “medium”. Based on an average of the available data, the indicative value for money of the MRN/LLM programme is estimated to be “high”. For the RIS schemes cancelled in the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s statement the details are as follows: SchemeEstimated capital costValue for MoneyA303 Stonehenge£2349mLowA27 Arundel£630mLowA27 Worthing and Lancing£26mn/a Value for Money information for A27 Worthing and Lancing is unavailable as the precise scope of the scheme had not yet been determined. No schemes in the MRN/LLM programme were cancelled in the Chancellor’s statement.

What estimate he has made of the (a) amount of oil and gas that the North Sea will produce in each year until 2060 and (b) tax revenue generated from that oil and gas (i) directly from North Sea oil taxes and (ii) in taxes from employment; how much oil and gas will need to be imported each year between now and 2060; and from which countries that oil and gas will be imported from.

The North Sea Transition Authority publishes UK oil and gas production projections to 2050 and the OBR’s latest forecasts for oil and gas tax revenues up to 2028/29 was published in the March 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook. Future years will be included in future forecasts. Tax revenues from oil and gas employment will be included under forecasts for Income Tax and National Insurance, which are not separated by industry. The Energy Security Plan Update, published in December 2023, included an assessment of the role of imports in meeting our domestic gas demand until 2050. The department also publishes projections of the UK’s future demand for oil (under existing and near-final policy) and monitors both UK production and demand as part of the regular departmental output. These assessments will be updated in due course to reflect the new government's policy.

How much coal is (a) required annually by the UK heritage rail sector and (b) produced in the UK; which countries the non-UK supplies originate from, by annual tonnage; and what assessment he has made of the comparative CO2 impact of (i) importing coal from overseas and (ii) domestically producing coal.

The Department does not hold specific data on coal and the heritage rail sector. Breakdowns of coal usage, production and imports are available in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solid-fuels-and-derived-gases-chapter-2-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes The source of coal for use in heritage steam and other industries is a private matter for the organisations involved. The coal extraction industry is in decline in the UK and there is currently only one commercial coal mine in operation. We do not intend to grant new coal licences.

If he will make an estimate of the amount of solar energy generated by ensuring that five per cent of (a) industrial and (b) commercial roofs are covered with solar panels.

The Government does not take a prescriptive approach to the amount of rooftop solar deployment required, nor to the mix between installation on domestic and non-domestic properties. Therefore, no such estimate has been made. However, the Government is clear that rooftop solar will play an important role in achieving its ambition of tripling existing solar capacity by 2030. Further details will be included in the upcoming publication of the Solar Roadmap.

Whether he has had discussions with his German counterpart on the potential impact of an underground first policy towards new electricity infrastructure.

Details of Ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.

What plans she has to consult on ending the VAT exemption and business rates relief for private schools.

As the Chancellor announced on 29 July, as of 1 January 2025, all education services and vocational training supplied by a private school in the UK for a charge will be subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20%. Boarding services closely related to such a supply will also be subject to VAT at 20%. Any fees paid from 29 July 2024 pertaining to the term starting in January 2025 onwards will be subject to VAT. Furthermore, where a school in England has charitable status, the government will legislate to remove their eligibility to business rates charitable rates relief. This is intended to take effect from April 2025, subject to parliamentary passage. This was a tough but necessary decision that will secure additional funding to help deliver the government’s commitments relating to education and young people, including opening 3,000 new nurseries, rolling out breakfast clubs to all primary schools, and recruiting 6,500 new teachers. The Government engages with a wide range of stakeholders with an interest in Government policy, including VAT, as part of the policy development and implementation process as a matter of course. A technical note setting out the details of these two tax policies has been published online here: VAT on Private School Fees & Removing the Charitable Rates Relief for Private Schools - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Draft VAT legislation has also been published alongside this technical note. A technical consultation on the legislation and technical note will run from 29 July 2024 until 15 September 2024.

What the Government's policy is on home working across the civil service.

The government's entire focus is on the work of delivering change. The government has not yet reviewed existing guidance on home working. We will support the Civil Service with the necessary tools to ensure it can deliver that change. The Government is committed to supporting individuals and businesses to work in ways that best suit their particular circumstances and whilst terms and conditions relating to hours of work are delegated to departments as individual employers, the Civil Service must ensure that it provides value for money for the public.

What the total Government underspend is for this financial year; and what the underspend is for each Department.

As the Chancellor set out in her statement on July 29, there is a forecast Resource DEL overspend of £21.9 billion against the plans set out for departments at Spring Budget 2024. This already factors in the Treasury’s assessment of a £7.1bn fallaway over the course of the year, as set out in Table 1 of Fixing the foundations: public spending audit 2024-25.

What the tax gap was in the (a) 2005-06 financial year and (b) latest financial year for which data is available; what steps her Department is taking to close the tax gap; and whether she has set a target for closing the tax gap.

The tax gap is the difference between the amount of tax that should, in theory, be paid to HMRC, and the amount that is actually paid. In 2005-06 the tax gap was estimated to be 7.4% (£32.4bn). The latest estimates, published in June 2024, show the tax gap at 4.8% (£39.8bn) in 2022-23.The government is committed to tackling the tax gap, through increasing HMRC's compliance staff, investing in HMRC’s technology infrastructure, and making policy changes to tackle tax non-compliance. The government will set out further details at the budget.

What the average take home pay was of someone aged 23 working full-time on the minimum wage in (a) cash terms and (b) adjusted for inflation in the financial year (i) 2000-01, (ii) 2009-10 and (iii) 2023-24.

The statistics requested can be calculated for a typical worker on the minimum wage using the following data sources: average hours from ONS dataset HOUR01; inflation from ONS CPI series D7BT; historic Income Tax liabilities from HMRC, “Income Tax Personal Allowances and Reliefs”; historic National Insurance liabilities from HMRC, “Main Features of National Insurance Contributions”.

Media and Sport, what funding is available from the Arts Council for schemes in Basildon and Billericay constituency; how much funding has been awarded to those schemes; whether the Arts Council has sponsored any events in Basildon and Billericay constituency; and what is the criteria for sponsoring events.

Arts Council England’s £100 million programme, National Lottery Project Grants, is open for applications to organisations and individuals from across England, from north to south and east to west, including in Basildon and Billericay. The criteria for applying are available on the Arts Council's website.Grants awarded from the Arts Council’s main funding streams within the last 5 financial years (2023/2024 inclusive) are published online and provide details of all organisations that receive funding.They are available in the following locations:National Lottery Project GrantsDeveloping Your Creative PracticeInvestment Programme (2018-2022 NPO)Investment Programme (2023-2026 NPO)Cultural Recovery FundEmergency Response FundSince 2019, Arts Council England has provided over £5.8 million of funding to organisations in the Basildon and Billericay constituency.

How many and what proportion of children are home schooled in each local education authority area.

The department publishes information on children in elective home education (EHE), which can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/elective-home-education.The number of children in EHE, at any point in the 2022/23 academic year, by local authority can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/3a87f0ae-7cfd-4b6c-b8de-08dcab23db45.Please note that approaches to recording of EHE vary across local authorities. This is a new data collection since 2022/23 and, as such, the department expects the quality of the data returns from local authorities to continue to improve over time. In the latest term, data was received from 95% of local authorities. The data is adjusted for non-response and combined with population data for comparable ages to produce the national rate of EHE published in the release, which was 1.1% in autumn 2023.The Children’s Wellbeing Bill will legislate for local authority registers of children not in school. This will include a duty on parents to provide the necessary information for these registers if their child is eligible, which would improve the accuracy of data and ensure that fewer children slip under the radar when they are not in school.

How many (a) nurses and (b) doctors were employed by the NHS in (i) May 2010 and (ii) the most recent month for which data is available.

The following table shows the number of full-time equivalent nurses, including health visitors, and doctors employed by National Health Service trusts and other core organisations in England, as of May 2010 and May 2024: May 2010May 2024Nurses280,950356,581Doctors94,742140,968Source: NHS Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics for England, published by NHS England on a monthly basis.The data includes staff employed by NHS trusts and other core NHS organisations. It excludes staff directly employed by general practitioner surgeries, local authorities, and other providers such as community interest companies and private providers. More detailed data can be found at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics

What the NHS budget was in (a) cash terms and (b) adjusted for inflation in the (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2023-24 financial year.

NHS England, which is usually taken as the basis of the National Health Service budget, was established in 2013/14, and so equivalent figures for earlier years are not available. For comparisons before 2013/14, the Government usually uses the Department’s overall budget, of which the NHS budget forms the vast majority. The overall budget, including the NHS and other components, was £183.6 billion in 2023/24. In 2009/10 it was £100.2 billion which, adjusting for inflation using gross domestic product deflators published on 28 June 2024, would be the equivalent of £141.5 billion in 2023/24.

How much funding the NHS allocated to mental health services in (a) cash terms and (b) adjusted for inflation in the (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2023-24 financial year.

The information requested is not available for 2009/10, as National Health Service expenditure on mental health services was not separately identified prior to 2015/16. The total planned spend on mental health for 2023/24, including learning disabilities and dementia, was £16,814,000,000. The final figures for 2023/24 are not yet available, and will be published through the NHS mental health dashboard, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/nhs-mental-health-dashboard/

Pursuant to the Answer of 22 July 2024 to Question 458 on Private Education: Fees and Charges, whether the Department has made an assessment to date of the impact of the introduction of VAT on schools in the independent sector on class sizes in state schools.

The impact of any tax changes affecting independent schools on the state sector will be carefully considered. The government will complete its analysis once details of the policy changes have been confirmed. The department is supporting HM Treasury which will deliver tax changes. Further details will be announced in due course.

How many and what proportion of children at (a) key stage one and two, (b) key stage three and four and (c) post-16 education are in (i) state-funded and (ii) privately-funded independent education in each local education authority area.

The department publishes figures on schools and pupils, including information on state-funded and independent schools. More information can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics. Data is collected from independent schools through the school level annual school census. This does not include phase but does include the age of pupils. A table showing the number of pupils by age, school type and local authority can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f68a2ed7-d308-4e17-b82a-08dcab23a860. Please note that age does not necessarily directly align to state-funded sector primary, secondary and post-16 schools.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 July 2024 to Question 706 on Unemployment, what the headline level of economic inactivity was in (a) March-May 2010 and (b) the latest period for which data is available.

The headline UK economic inactivity level was 9.433 million in March-May 2010 (based on people aged between 16 and 64). In March-May 2024 (the latest month for which figures are available) the UK economic inactivity level was 9.383 million. The headline UK economic inactivity rate was 23.4% in March-May 2010 (this is also estimated on a 16-64 basis). In March-May 2024 (the latest month for which figures are available) the UK economic inactivity rate was 22.1%. The UK has experienced a rise in economic inactivity since the pandemic. The economic inactivity level has risen by 833,000 since the pre-pandemic level, with economic inactivity due to long-term sickness rising to 2.8m. The UK remains the only nation in the G7 with an economic inactivity rate higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic.