Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on providing a rebate to students renting private rented accommodation but not living in that accommodation as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Steve Barclay
The Chancellor of the Exchequer speaks regularly to the Secretary of State for Education on matters of shared interest.
Private accommodation providers are autonomous and are responsible for setting their own rent agreements. Whether a student is entitled to a refund or to an early release from their contract will depend on the specific contractual arrangements between them and their provider.
We recognise that in these exceptional circumstances some students may face financial hardship. Higher Education providers are able to use existing funds, worth around £256 million for academic year 2020/21, towards hardship support. The Government has also made available a further £20m to support those that need it most, particularly disadvantaged students.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the 30 October 2020 cut-off date for furlough under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme on people who started new jobs after that date.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) was extended on 31 October. For an employee to be eligible for the extension, their employer must have made a PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) submission to HMRC, notifying a payment of earnings for that employee, between 20 March and 30 October 2020. The 30 October cut-off date is necessary and allows as many people as possible to be included by going right up to the day before the announcement, balancing the risk of fraud that existed as soon as the scheme became public. Extending the cut-off date further would have significantly increased the risk of abuse, because claims could not be confidently verified against the risk of fraud by using the data after this point.
The Government understands that the new restrictions are challenging for some businesses. The Chancellor has announced further support, including a new one-off grant of up to £9,000 to support businesses in England which are legally required to close. This comes in addition to the existing monthly grants for closed businesses of up to £3,000 per month. Local authorities will also receive an additional £500m, to a total of £1.6bn, of discretionary funding to allow them to support their local businesses.
The CJRS is not the only support available for employees. The Government has boosted the generosity of the welfare system by £7.4bn in 2020-21 including through a temporary £20 a week increase in the Universal Credit standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Government support provided to businesses through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, what assessment the Government had made of the potential merits of making provision of that support conditional on companies avoiding initiating redundancy proceedings for the duration of their receipt of that support.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The scheme has been successful in supporting employers whose operations have been severely affected by coronavirus in retaining their employees.
Where a business considers that redundancy is the only option, the business must still follow rules which include giving a notice period and consulting staff before a final decision is reached. Any redundancy process should be fair and reasonable, with appropriate equalities considerations.
To support employees the Government has announced a far-reaching package of support to help individuals through the coronavirus pandemic, including a half-billion pound boost to the welfare system.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the provision of loans to airlines by the Government's Covid Corporate Financing Facility, what accountability measures (a) his Department and (b) the Bank of England have (i) in place and (ii) planned for to ensure that those loans are spent on (A) suitable and (B) approved business costs and liabilities.
Answered by John Glen
The Covid Corporate Financing Facility is designed to support companies who would ordinarily seek market-based finance to strengthen working capital, but find themselves struggling to access financial markets in this uncertain operating environment. It primarily provides bridging support to see through the temporary nature of Covid-19 related disruption, by catalyzing the market for short term corporate funding.
Since 19 May the Government has imposed restraints on capital distributions (including dividends and share buybacks), as well as senior pay, on companies accessing the CCFF. Firms must provide a letter of commitment to these constraints to HMT, which HMT reserves the right to publish if it becomes aware the terms of the letter have not been complied with.
In order to ensure support can be provided quickly, and in a broad-based manner, those are the only conditions imposed on participating firms at this time. Firms must meet strict criteria to access the CCFF so that the Government is confident the funds will be repaid.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the provision of loans to businesses by the Government's Covid Corporate Financing Facility, whether information on the items of expenditure that businesses require those loans for will be (a) published (i) directly, (ii) in an anonymised and (iii) in a summarised form or (b) provided upon request in an anonymised form under Freedom of Information legislation.
Answered by John Glen
The Covid Corporate Financing Facility is designed to support companies who would ordinarily seek market-based finance to strengthen working capital, but find themselves struggling to access financial markets in this uncertain operating environment. It primarily provides bridging support to see through the temporary nature of Covid-19 related disruption, by catalyzing the market for short term corporate funding.
Since 19 May the Government has imposed restraints on capital distributions (including dividends and share buybacks), as well as senior pay, on companies accessing the CCFF. Firms must provide a letter of commitment to these constraints to HMT, which HMT reserves the right to publish if it becomes aware the terms of the letter have not been complied with.
In order to ensure support can be provided quickly, and in a broad-based manner, those are the only conditions imposed on participating firms at this time. Firms must meet strict criteria to access the CCFF so that the Government is confident the funds will be repaid.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether suitable businesses purposes for which loans provided under the Covid Corporate Financing Facility may be utilised include payments (a) for kerosene futures, (b) for buying fuel, (c) to avoid buying fuel for which agreements or contracts have already been entered into and (d) to (i) Avalon and (ii) other aircraft leasing companies.
Answered by John Glen
The Covid Corporate Financing Facility is designed to support companies who would ordinarily seek market-based finance to strengthen working capital, but find themselves struggling to access financial markets in this uncertain operating environment. It primarily provides bridging support to see through the temporary nature of Covid-19 related disruption, by catalyzing the market for short term corporate funding.
Since 19 May the Government has imposed restraints on capital distributions (including dividends and share buybacks), as well as senior pay, on companies accessing the CCFF. Firms must provide a letter of commitment to these constraints to HMT, which HMT reserves the right to publish if it becomes aware the terms of the letter have not been complied with.
In order to ensure support can be provided quickly, and in a broad-based manner, those are the only conditions imposed on participating firms at this time. Firms must meet strict criteria to access the CCFF so that the Government is confident the funds will be repaid.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to extend the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme 2020 to the families of all key workers who die from covid-19.
Answered by Steve Barclay
On 27 April, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced a new Life Assurance scheme for frontline NHS and social care workers who die from coronavirus. This recognises the increased risks faced by these staff during the course of their essential and lifesaving work during the crisis, and the need to encourage retired doctors and nurses to fill staff shortages and boost service capacity.
It pays a £60,000 tax-free lump sum where staff die as a result of coronavirus and had been recently working in frontline roles and locations where personal care is provided to individuals who have contracted coronavirus.
The government will continue to review the support provided to key workers on the front-line.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he has introduced to increase the domestic installation of solar roofs since the closure of the Feed in Tariff framework.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government is committed to greening the economy. HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs are working closely together to ensure that the tax system as a whole, as well as future spending decisions, facilitate the Government’s objectives for both the Net Zero Review and its wider fiscal and economic strategy.