Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Glasgow North West constituency of 1 April 2020 in relation to support for the self-employed, temporary and freelance workers.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
HM Treasury has received unprecedented amounts of correspondence since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, and apologises for the delay in responding to the Honourable Member. The Honourable Members’ correspondence is receiving attention and will be replied to as soon as possible.Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to respond to the letter of 6 April 2020 from the hon. Member for Glasgow North West on access to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for new employees.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
HM Treasury has received unprecedented amounts of correspondence since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, and apologises for the delay in responding to the Honourable Member. The Honourable Members’ correspondence is receiving attention and will be replied to as soon as possible.Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to respond to the letter of 24 April 2020 from the hon. Member for Glasgow North West on umbrella employment and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
HM Treasury has received unprecedented amounts of correspondence since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, and apologises for the delay in responding to the Honourable Member. The Honourable Members’ correspondence is receiving attention and will be replied to as soon as possible.Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he would make a change in the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme regulations to allow the 2019-20 tax year results to be used in calculations for payments made under that scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
It has not been possible to include those who began trading after the 2018-19 tax year in the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme. This was a very difficult decision and it was taken for practical reasons. It is correct that individuals can now submit Income Tax Self Assessment returns for 2019-20, but there would be significant risks for the public purse if the Government relied on these returns for the scheme. HMRC would not be able to distinguish genuine self-employed individuals who started trading in 2019-20 from fake applications by fraudulent operators and organised criminal gangs seeking to exploit the SEISS. The Government cannot expose the tax system to these risks.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has said there will be no further extension or changes to the SEISS. However, the newly self-employed may still be eligible for other financial support provided by the Government. The SEISS is one element of a comprehensive package of support for individuals and businesses, including the newly self-employed. This package includes Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support,?increased levels of Universal Credit, mortgage holidays, and other business support grants. More information about the full range of business support measures is available at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/financial-support-for-businesses-during-coronavirus-covid-19.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to make an announcement on the next stage of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an extension to the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme on 29 May.
Eligible individuals whose business is adversely affected by COVID-19 will be able to claim a second and final grant when the scheme reopens for further applications in August. Individuals will be able to claim a taxable grant worth 70 per cent of their average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering three months’ worth of profits and capped at £6,570 in total.
There will be no further changes and no further extensions to the scheme, which continues to be one of the most generous in the world.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including the Post Office Document Certification service in the list of approved document certifiers for HMRC services.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
HMRC currently have no plans to ask the Post Office to provide document verification services.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to respond to the Third Report of the Treasury Committee, Session 2019, published on 1 November 2019.
Answered by John Glen
The government responded to the report on 5th February 2020 and the Committee will publish our response in the usual way in due course.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to place the Contingent Reimbursement Model Code for Authorised Push Payment on a statutory footing.
Answered by John Glen
In March 2018, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) established a steering group of financial institutions and consumer representatives to develop a voluntary code of good practice to help protect consumers against authorized push payment (APP) scams.
At the end of February 2019, the steering group published the Contingent Reimbursement Model Code for Authorised Push Payments (the Code), which sets out the agreed principles for greater protection of consumers and the circumstances in which they will be reimbursed, making a significant step in delivering improved protections for consumers. The Code became effective on 28 May 2019 and customers of those payment service providers that are signatories (which includes all of the 6 largest banks and building societies) are protected under the Code from this date.
The Code is still in its infancy and the Government believes it should be given time to embed and take full effect before its effectiveness can properly be assessed. The Lending Standards Board (LSB), which is responsible for the Code, has committed to a first annual review of its operation in Summer 2020 and will shortly publish more information about its planned approach, including its intention to consult widely with consumer representatives and the industry. The Government looks forward to reviewing these findings when they become available.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making the Contingent Reimbursement Model Code for Authorised Push Payment Fraud retrospective.
Answered by John Glen
The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) established a non-governmental steering group of financial institutions and consumer representatives in March 2018 to develop a voluntary code of good practice to help protect consumers against Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams. At the end of February 2019, the steering group published the Contingent Reimbursement Model Code for Authorised Push Payments (the Code). The Code became effective on 28 May 2019 and customers of those payment service providers that are signatories are protected under the Code from this date. The Government recognises this may be disappointing for victims of APP scams that occurred before this date.
If a victim of an APP scam is not satisfied with how their payment service provider has handled their specific case, they may wish to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FOS was established by Government to provide a proportionate, prompt and informal resolution of disputes between a consumer and financial service firm.