Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish guidance on the support available under his economic recovery plan for (a) mothers, (b) lone parents, (c) survivors of domestic abuse and (d) refugees.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government has listened to charities and the Domestic Abuse Commissioner about the pressures the sector faces and is providing extra funding for charities which support victims and their children. The Home Office launched an awareness campaign in April called #YouAreNotAlone, in order to raise the profile of domestic abuse victims during COVID-19 and signpost victims to the support services available.
£76 million of support announced in May is helping the most vulnerable in society, including domestic abuse victims, through:
The Government is allowing households where there is only one adult – including people who live alone or single parents with children under 18 – to form a “support bubble” with another household.
The Plan for Jobs package also provides support to those who have lost their jobs and DWP will ensure that support from Jobcentres and partners addresses the needs of those who are underrepresented in the labour market, such as BAME groups and lone parents.
Through the furlough scheme, the Government has supported those who have been unable to work for childcare reasons. The Government is continuing to fund free early years entitlements, and the minimum income for Tax-Free Childcare has also been temporarily suspended for those who would have met the requirement were it not for the pandemic.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review the Government's financial support packages for agency workers who (a) are unable to access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, (b) have recently lost their employment and (c) who are ineligible to claim universal credit because they hold more than £16,000 in savings.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government is committed to protecting people’s jobs and incomes as far as possible. In March the Government announced the unprecedented Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which has so far supported more than 7.5 million jobs and was recently extended to October. Employers can claim for employees on any type of contract, including agency workers.
For individuals who need to rely on the safety net of the welfare state, the Government has announced a significant package of temporary measures to support them. These include a £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit (UC) standard allowance, and for renters, an increase to the Local Housing Allowance rates so that the UC housing element covers the cheapest third of local rents.
In order to ensure that support is targeted at families most in need, households with capital, such as savings, above £16,000 will be ineligible for UC. In such cases, it is likely that they will have alternative means of financial support.
Individuals who have lost their jobs may be entitled to other welfare support. If they have made sufficient National Insurance contributions, they may be eligible for new style Jobseeker’s Allowance, which does not take savings into account. More information is available at
www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/employment-and-benefits-support.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to extend the provisions of section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act to cover creditors that are third-parties.
Answered by John Glen
Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 usually only applies when there is a direct transactional relationship between the debtor (the consumer), the creditor (the credit card provider), and the supplier of goods and services.
If a credit card is used to pay for something through a third-party intermediary service, for example a payment services provider, the conditions in section 75 may not be met.
This aims to strike the right balance between consumer protection and proportionate burdens on business, and the Government does not intend to extend the liability of a creditor with respect to suppliers with which it has no relationship or arrangement.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to allow local authorities to extend covid-19 business rates relief for 2020-21 tax year to English language centres.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government has provided enhanced support to the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors through business rates relief given the direct and acute impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on those sectors.
A range of further measures to support all businesses, including those not eligible for the business rates holiday, such as English language centres, has also been made available. For example, the Government has launched the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to help firms keep people in employment, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme offering loans of up to £5 million for SMEs, and is deferring VAT payments for this quarter.
The Government will consider any further financial assistance necessary to help businesses get through this period.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will issue updated guidance on the makes and models of car-derived vans and combi-vans which HMRC defines as (a) cars and (b) vans for input tax deduction purposes.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
HM Revenue and Customs update the list of relevant vehicles upon receipt of a notification from manufacturers or sole concessionaires of new vehicles that qualify as car-derived vans and combi-vans for input tax deduction purposes. The current list was discussed with The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders trade body in April 2019 and to date no new notifications have been received.Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of climate change on the work of his Department; and what steps he is taking in response to that effect.
Answered by Simon Clarke
HM Treasury takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously. As you would expect, we are considering what further fiscal and other policy measures are needed to meet our 2050 net zero target.
HM Treasury’s Net Zero Review is looking into how the transition to a net zero economy will be funded, and where the costs will fall. The review will publish its findings in Autumn 2020.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Northern Ireland Executive will receive the full £1 billion extra funding agreed in the Confidence and Supply Agreement between the Conservative and Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party during the last Parliament.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
The Confidence and Supply financial annex committed the UK Government to providing £1 billion to Northern Ireland. £ 763 million has been released so far and the release of further funding would take place following Parliament’s approval in the normal way through the Estimates process.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the equity of means-testing for child benefit in relation to couples in which one parent is entitled to child benefit and the other is not.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The Government introduced the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) from January 2013 to ensure that support is targeted at those who need it most. It applies to anyone with an individual income over £50,000, who claims Child Benefit or whose partner claims it. The charge increases gradually for taxpayers with incomes between £50,000 and £60,000.
If total household income was taken into account, information on the incomes of everyone in each of the eight million households receiving Child Benefit would need to be collected and would effectively introduce a new means test. The Government’s approach withdraws Child Benefit from those on higher incomes, whilst having no impact on the majority of claimants.