Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to ensure that working people’s pay aligns with the rising cost of living.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living because of high inflation. The government is providing over £15bn of additional support, building on the over £22bn announced previously, with government support for the cost of living now totaling over £37bn this year. Support includes helping all domestic electricity customers in Great Britain with the impact of higher energy bills, with £400 off their bills from October.
In addition, the government has also increased the National Living Wage (NLW) by 6.6% to £9.50 an hour for workers aged 23 and over, which will benefit more than 2 million workers. This means an increase of over £1,000 to the annual earnings of a full-time worker on the NLW. In the long term, the best approach to managing the cost of living is to help people into work, supporting them to increase their incomes, helping them keep more of what they earn and growing the economy sustainably.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 30 March 2022 to Question 147039, on Ukraine: Humanitarian Aid, whether there are customs restrictions on volunteer aid organisations taking battery packs and other power packs to (a) Ukraine and (b) surrounding countries.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
Dual-use, prohibited and restricted goods are excluded from the Humanitarian Aid easement to Ukraine. Exporters will need to ascertain the control status of the battery or power packs they wish to export to see if an export licence is required. Enquiries can be made with the Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) within the Department for International Trade. The contact details for ECJU can be found on gov.uk.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the impact of re-introducing the universal credit temporary uplift on the cost of living.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Government has always been clear that the £20 per week increase to Universal Credit (UC) was a temporary measure to support households whose incomes and earnings were affected by the economic shock of COVID-19.
To help with the cost of living, the Government is taking action worth around £12bn this financial year and next. This includes cutting the Universal Credit taper rate and increasing Universal Credit work allowances to make sure work pays, freezing alcohol and fuel duties to keep costs down, and providing targeted support to help vulnerable households with their energy bills and other essentials through the £500m Household Support Fund.
In addition, the Government announced last week that we are providing further financial support to help households with the rising costs of energy. Support of up to £350 will be provided to protect the majority of households from half of the forecast £700 rise in average energy bills. This support is worth £9.1bn in 2022-23 (on top of the £12bn already announced) and is composed of:
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of how much money a windfall tax on the profits of the North Sea Oil and Gas companies would raise.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The UK Government places additional taxes on the extraction of oil and gas, with companies engaged in the production of oil and gas on the UK Continental Shelf subject to headline tax rates on their profits that are currently more than double those paid by other businesses. To date, the sector has paid more than £375 billion in production taxes.
All taxes are kept under review and any changes are considered and announced by the Chancellor.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department made of the potential merits of implementing a one-off energy support grant.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Government recognises many households will need support to help deal with the rising cost of energy prices and is providing support worth £9.1bn in 2022-23 including:
o A £200 reduction in households’ energy bills this autumn, paid back automatically over the next 5 years, spreading the increased costs of global prices over time in a way that is more manageable for households.
o A £150 non-repayable cash rebate to 80% of households to help with rising costs now, delivered as a payment from government to Local Authorities, for implementation from this April via a payment to all households in Council Tax Bands A-D.
o £144 million of discretionary funding for Local Authorities to support households who need support but are not eligible for the Council Tax reduction.
We have consulted on expanding the Warm Home Discount by almost a third from 2.2m to 3m vulnerable households and increasing the rebate value to £150 each year.
This approach is fiscally responsible while also helping customers manage the unprecedented increase in energy bills by spreading the increased costs of global prices over time.
The Government is also providing £3bn over this Parliament to help more than half a million lower income homes become more energy efficient, saving them £290 per year on average, including through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and Home Upgrade Grant.