Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses based in the Dunfermline and West Fife constituency have applied for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
As of 11 June 2020, 1,110 claims have been made under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme by PAYE schemes registered at an address within the boundaries of the Dunfermline and West Fife constituency.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchquer, what the Barnett consequentials are for each of the devolved nations from the Zoo Support Fund.
Answered by Steve Barclay
The UK government is applying the Barnett formula in the normal way to the additional funding for charities announced by the Chancellor. In relation to the £750 million package, the Scottish Government are receiving at least £55 million, the Welsh Government are receiving at least £32 million, and the Northern Ireland Executive are receiving at least £19m.
Funding for charities is a devolved matter and it is for the devolved administrations to decide how to support charities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has to support zoos and aquariums that are unable to furlough their employees.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Government announced a package of support for licensed zoo or aquariums in England on May 4. These businesses can apply for a grant of up to £100,000. The amount received will be based on animals’ needs and can be used to cover animal-care costs such as:
Applications are being handled by The Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Further details are available here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-apply-for-the-zoos-support-fund.
However, before applying for a grant these businesses must try to reduce costs or generate income in other ways, including applying for COVID-19 business support schemes and commercial and philanthropic funding.
The Business Support website provides further information about how businesses can access the support that has been made available, who is eligible, when the schemes open and how to apply - https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has to provide financial support to visitor attractions that rely on a high income during summer months but are ineligible for covid-19 business support during to the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Government has announced unprecedented support for business and workers to protect them against the current economic emergency including an initial £330 billion of guarantees – equivalent to 15% of UK GDP.
Businesses in the leisure and tourism sector may benefit from the range of support measures made available, which includes:
The Business Support website provides further information about how businesses can access the support that has been made available, who is eligible, when the schemes open and how to apply - https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the recommendation of the National Infrastructure Assessment to provide devolved, long-term transport funding to all city regions.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
The government is carefully considering the National Infrastructure Commission’s recommendations, including on transport funding for cities. It is already investing significantly in intra-city transport with the £2.5 billion Transforming Cities Fund set up in 2017 which provides devolved funding to six Mayoral Combined Authorities outside of London and competitive funding to up to twelve shortlisted city regions.
The National Infrastructure Strategy will be published later in the autumn setting out the government’s assessment of the NIC’s recommendations, alongside ambitious plans for future capital spending.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure a long-term approach to infrastructure investment as recommended in the National Infrastructure Assessment.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
As set out in Spending Round 2019, the Government will announce its ambitious plans for future capital spending later in the autumn, including through the publication of the National Infrastructure Strategy.
This Strategy will set out the Government’s plans to deliver a step change in infrastructure investment to support the UK economy and will provide the Government’s official response to the National Infrastructure Assessment, which set out an assessment of the UK’s long-term infrastructure needs.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value of the Barnett consequentials are for (a) Small Sites Fund, (b) Housing Infrastructure Fund, (c) local authority Accelerated Construction Programme and (d) the Land Assembly Fund.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The Barnett Formula is applied at departmental level at Spending Reviews and at programme level at fiscal events. The total spending on UK Government programmes is not therefore generally associated with specific Barnett consequentials.
However, where changes in programme level funding have been announced at fiscal events since the 2015 Spending Review, HM Treasury’s Block Grant Transparency publication sets out the associated changes in the devolved administration block grants. This includes funding for the four programmes referred to in the question. The Block Grant Transparency publication can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/block-grant-transparency-december-2018.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the 2014 Government report Scotland anaylsis: fiscal policy and sustainability, what the evidential basis was for the statement that each person in Scotland would be £1,400 better off each year if Scotland remained part of the UK, and what that figure has been for each year since 2014.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
In Scotland analysis: fiscal policy and sustainability (2014), HM Government projected that, as part of the UK, Scotland would be able to have lower tax or higher spending than under independence. This was estimated to be worth £1,400 per person in Scotland in each year from 2016-17 onwards.
The methodology used to calculate this can be found in Annex A of Scotland analysis: fiscal policy and sustainability
HM Government has not updated this analysis since the publication.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much of the National Productivity Investment Fund has been allocated to (a) housing, (b) research and development, (c) economic infrastructure and (d) skills since its inception.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The Government established the National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF) to increase capital spending for areas critical for improving productivity. The NPIF is now set to deliver £37bn of high-value investment to 2023/24 in economic infrastructure, R&D, and housing.
The Chancellor has set out how over £24bn of the NPIF will be allocated. This includes:
£740m for digital infrastructure, to mobilise the market to develop full-fibre broadband networks and 5G capacity;
£7bn extra for R&D by 2021-22 – the largest increase for 40 years – including £750m for skills and talent (PhDs and fellowships), demonstrating progress towards the government’s ambition of increasing the R&D intensity of the economy to 2.4% of GDP by 2027;
£6.5bn for transport, including a £2.5bn Transforming Cities Fund, designed to drive productivity by improving intra-city transport and reducing congestion;
£13bn for housing, to build more homes in high demand locations so that people can live near the best job opportunities for them.