Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether Business Rates Relief are planned to be extended to English language teaching centres.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
This year, due to the direct adverse effects of COVID-19, the Government has provided an unprecedented business rates holiday for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties worth over £10 billion. The Government has also frozen the business rates multiplier for all businesses for 2021-22.
The Government has provided various schemes to support firms, including English language teaching centres, including Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans, Bounce Back Loans, grants and VAT deferrals.
The Budget will set out the next phase of the Government’s plans to tackle the virus, protect jobs and support business.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will include adult gaming centres in the VAT reductions available to the hospitality industry.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The temporary reduced rate of VAT was introduced on 15 July to support the cash flow and viability of over 150,000 businesses and protect 2.4 million jobs in the hospitality and tourism sectors, and will run until 31 March 2021.
This policy will cost over £2 billion and it is necessary for a boundary for eligibility to be drawn. The Government keeps all taxes under review, and any future decisions on tax policy will be made at Budget.
The Government has announced a significant support package to help businesses from a whole range of sectors through the winter months, which includes an extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, an extension of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grant, and an extension of the application window for the Government-backed loan schemes.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the findings of the Report of the Independent Investigation into the Financial Conduct Authority’s Regulation of London Capital & Finance plc, published 23 November 2020, what the timetable is for the FCA to pay compensation under the complaints scheme to bondholders.
Answered by John Glen
I refer the Honourable Member to my answer given on 21 January to PQ UIN 138838. As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement of 17 December 2020, there are three main channels through which London Capital & Finance plc (LCF) bondholders can seek compensation. These are the administration process, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), and the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Complaints Scheme.
The Written Ministerial Statement also set out that, taking into consideration the specific and complex set of circumstances surrounding the collapse of LCF, the Treasury will set up a compensation scheme which will assess whether there is justification for further one-off compensation payments in certain circumstances for some LCF bondholders. The Government will announce further details in due course.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how the Government's compensation scheme that was announced in response to the Report of the Independent Investigation into the Financial Conduct Authority’s Regulation of London Capital & Finance plc, published on 23 November 2020, will be administered.
Answered by John Glen
I refer the Honourable Member to my answer given on 21 January to PQ UIN 138838. As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement of 17 December 2020, there are three main channels through which London Capital & Finance plc (LCF) bondholders can seek compensation. These are the administration process, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), and the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Complaints Scheme.
The Written Ministerial Statement also set out that, taking into consideration the specific and complex set of circumstances surrounding the collapse of LCF, the Treasury will set up a compensation scheme which will assess whether there is justification for further one-off compensation payments in certain circumstances for some LCF bondholders. The Government will announce further details in due course.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Report of the Independent Investigation into the Financial Conduct Authority’s Regulation of London Capital & Finance plc, published 23 November 2020, whether the Government compensation scheme announced in response to that report will contain bondholder restrictions (a) on investment size, (b) on investment timing or (c) linked to bondholders' individual circumstances.
Answered by John Glen
I refer the Honourable Member to my answer given on 21 January to PQ UIN 138838. As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement of 17 December 2020, there are three main channels through which London Capital & Finance plc (LCF) bondholders can seek compensation. These are the administration process, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), and the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Complaints Scheme.
The Written Ministerial Statement also set out that, taking into consideration the specific and complex set of circumstances surrounding the collapse of LCF, the Treasury will set up a compensation scheme which will assess whether there is justification for further one-off compensation payments in certain circumstances for some LCF bondholders. The Government will announce further details in due course.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to reinstate the mortgage payment holiday scheme for homeowners that are in financial difficulties as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by John Glen
We have extended the period that borrowers can apply for a mortgage holiday to support homeowners in financial distress. Mortgage borrowers who have not yet taken a payment holiday are able to take a payment holiday for up to six months. Borrowers who have taken an initial payment holiday can top this up to six months. The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) guidance released on 17 November sets out that mortgage holidays (up to a maximum of 6 months) will remain an option for borrowers until 31 March 2021. However, the FCA guidance also notes that all payment holidays will need to end by 31 July 2021.
For borrowers that have already taken a full six months payment holiday, the FCA’s guidance sets out that firms should continue to provide support through tailored forbearance options for those borrowers that are facing ongoing financial difficulties. This could include granting new mortgage payment holidays.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to make an assessment of the potential level of fraud in (a) peer to peer lending and (b) crowdfunding.
Answered by John Glen
The Government takes matters of fraud extremely seriously. We continue to work closely with industry to close down the vulnerabilities that fraudsters exploit and ensure members of the public have the information they need to spot a scam and stand up to fraudsters.
We set up the Joint Fraud Taskforce to help build a collaborative law enforcement, government and industry response to tackling fraud. The Taskforce have already delivered on initiatives such as Take Five (the fraud awareness campaign). The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) ScamSmart website also aims to help consumers protect themselves against investment scams, by allowing users to search a warning list to check an investment opportunity and report scams or unauthorised firms.
The FCA has a broad range of powers to oversee the peer to peer (P2P) and parts of the crowdfunding sectors. Moreover, P2P lending and investment-based crowdfunding are regulated activities under Financial Services Markets Act (FSMA 2000).
HM Treasury works closely with the FCA on an ongoing basis to understand what risks it has identified in the sectors it regulates, including the potential for an increase in fraud.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what financial support he has made available for businesses that have not been registered for self assessment before 2018.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Throughout this crisis, the Government has spent over £280 billion to make available a package of support for businesses which has included billions in wage support, loans, tax deferrals, business rate reliefs, and general and sector-specific grants.
These schemes were designed with two principles in mind; the need to target support at those who most need it, and the need to protect the exchequer against error, fraud, and abuse. The Government needs to balance its commitment to support people through the pandemic, with its duty to protect the taxpayer and ensure that public funds are managed responsibly.
The Government has acknowledged that it has not been possible to support everyone as they might want. The practical issues that have prevented the Government from being able to include businesses that did not register for self-assessment before 2018 for the previous SEISS grants, namely that HMRC will not have access to their self-assessment returns in time to verify their eligibility, still remain. However, those businesses may still be eligible for other aspects of the generous support package.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will be updated to include people employed between 30 October 2020 and the national lockdown announced in January 2021.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was extended on 31 October, ahead of the national lockdown on 1 November. The 30 October cut-off date 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.
The Government understands that the new restrictions are challenging for some businesses, and the Chancellor has announced further support measures. These are carefully designed to complement the existing ones so as to ensure jobs and livelihoods are protected. This support includes 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 Universal Credit standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element. This means that for a single Universal Credit claimant (25 or over), the standard allowance has increased from £317.82 to £409.89 per month. The £20 per week uplift is one part of a package of temporary welfare measures, which also includes the suspension of the Universal Credit Minimum Income Floor to support self-employed people on low incomes.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the changes to state aid rules as a result of the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Government has published guidance on the subsidy control obligations that the UK will be subject to post-EU Exit. This sets out further detail on the subsidy control obligations that now apply in the UK, and how compliance with these rules should be approached.
A copy of this guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/complying-with-the-uks-international-obligations-on-subsidy-control-guidance-for-public-authorities