Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for Government policies on alcohol duty and reducing consumption of the findings of the research, The COVID-19 alcohol paradox: British household purchases during 2020 compared with 2015-2019 by Anderson et al, published on 19 January 2022.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Government continues to monitor the evidence on public health and alcohol-related harms to develop alcohol duty policy. We welcome contributions from stakeholders, including academic reports, and we will be analysing evidence provided as part of our consultation on reforms to alcohol duty.Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to provide grant support to people working in the hair and beauty industry.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
In December we announced a generous £1bn package of support for business and their employees to help them manage the effects of the rapid surge of Omicron. This includes a £102m top-up to the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG), a discretionary fund delivered by local authorities in England. This is in addition to the £250m of ARG which local authorities report is left over from previous allocations. This scheme is open until 31 March 2022 and I encourage people and businesses impacted by the Omicron variant to contact their local authority.
The Government also continues to support small businesses through the VAT threshold, currently higher than any EU member state.
For those on low income whose earnings continue to be affected by Covid-19 restrictions, work coaches will continue to be able to suspend the Universal Credit Minimum Income Floor on an individual basis for up to six months.
Thanks to our decisive action to implement balanced and proportionate measures in response to the Omicron variant, Cabinet has decided to return to Plan A in England.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made on the impact of the proposed alcohol duty system on (a) health inequalities and (b) wider inequality.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
To better support public health, the Government intends to move to a new system that taxes all products in reference to their alcohol content for the first time. This will help to target problem drinking by taxing higher-strength products associated with alcohol-related harm a higher rate of duty.
The Government is continuing to engage with interested stakeholders, including public health professionals, on these reforms. A consultation was launched in October and stakeholders are encouraged to respond before the deadline of 30 January 2022. A tax information and impact note will be published following the consultation when the policy is final, or near final, in the usual way.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to improve financial inclusion for (a) young people and (b) marginalised communities.
Answered by John Glen
The Government is strongly committed to tackling financial exclusion and wants everyone, whatever their background or income to be able to access useful and affordable financial products and services. Since March 2018, the Government has convened the Financial Inclusion Policy Forum, co-chaired by the Economic Secretary to Treasury and Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion. It brings together leaders from industry, charities, and consumer groups, as well as government ministers and the regulators to provide leadership and promote collaboration to improve financial inclusion.
The Government has allocated £96 million of funding from dormant assets towards financial inclusion, which is being distributed by Fair4All Finance. The Government works closely with Fair4All Finance, which was founded to support those who are in financially vulnerable circumstances through fair and affordable financial products and services.