Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) statement: update on debt advice commissioning of 17 December 2021, when she plans to make funding available to MaPS to extend contracts for existing providers of community-based debt advice services for (a) three months initially and (b) a further 12 months following the decision not to proceed with the regional lot.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Money and Pensions Service’s (MaPS) annual budget will be agreed as part of their annual budget negotiations with the Department for Work and Pensions and HM Treasury which are currently ongoing and will conclude shortly. This includes funding allocation towards provision of free-to-client debt advice in England.
The Government recognises the sector’s need for planning certainty and is working at pace with MaPS to provide further information to the bidders and the sector shortly.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the end of the uplift to the standard allowance of universal credit on disabled people; and whether he plans to allocate additional funding to adult social care services to support disabled people who are impacted by the end of that uplift.
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.
The end of the temporary £20 per week increase to Universal Credit will not affect the substantial pre-existing support on offer to disabled people. This includes welfare support, where the Government will spend over £57 billion in 2021/22 on benefits to support those with disabilities or long-term health conditions.
Additionally, at SR21 the Government confirmed it is providing £4.8bn of new grant funding to Local Authorities over three years to meet core pressures including social care and other local services. Government also reconfirmed an additional £5.4bn over three years to fund social care reform. These reform plans will transform the social care offer for working age and older adults with disabilities.Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will provide the (a) departure airport, (b) arrival airport and (c) date of each domestic flight he has taken since 13 February 2020.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As has been the case under successive Administrations, non-scheduled air travel is necessary at times for undertaking Government and Royal Household official visits. This may be to the timing and flexibility needed, for security reasons, or due to the location being visited. It can also provide better value for money in the cases of larger delegations (which can include journalists).
The Government's Transport Decarbonisation Plan has set out our plans to reach net zero aviation emissions by 2050 through new technology and sustainable aviation fuels.
The following chart outlines details of the domestic flights the Chancellor of the Exchequer has taken since 13 February 2020:
12-Mar-20 | Leeds Bradford-RAF Northolt |
09-Jul-20 | Birmingham Int’l-RAF Northolt |
06-Aug-20 | RAF Northolt-Glasgow |
07-Aug-20 | Glasgow-RAF Leeming |
03-Mar-21 | RAF Northolt-Teesside |
04-Mar-21 | Teesside-RAF Northolt |
31-Mar-21 | RAF Northolt-Humberside-RAF Northolt |
14-May-21 | Humberside-RAF Northolt |
07-Jul-21 | RAF Northolt-Birmingham-RAF Northolt |
28-Jul-21 | RAF Northolt-Edinburgh |
29-Jul-21 | Glasgow-Teesside |
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing customers to opt-out of contactless payments.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government believes that contactless payment cards bring benefits to consumers and businesses across the UK by facilitating easy and secure payments.
The legal contactless payment limits are set by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) through the Strong Customer Authentication rules, and the FCA has the power to amend these limits subject to public consultation and Treasury approval. In March, the FCA raised the legal single contactless payment limit increased from £45 to £100, and the cumulative transaction limit increased from £130 to £300.
In making this decision, the FCA considered the risks to customers, including the impacts on fraud, alongside the benefits. Within these limits, some card providers offer the opportunity for their customers to vary their individual contactless limits, or to request cards without contactless functionality. These are commercial and operational considerations for individual card providers.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to para 2.47 of the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, whether the business rate relief for the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors includes the leisure marine industry.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Guidance setting out eligibility for the 2022-23 retail, hospitality and leisure relief will be published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in due course.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what funds were raised by the Apprenticeship Levy in the financial years (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2020-21.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Monthly receipts data for the Apprenticeship Levy is published by HM Revenue & Customs in their Tax & NIC Receipts publication which can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support he plans to provide to people who are trapped on high standard variable rates.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Following the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) Mortgage Market Study, an industry voluntary agreement was enacted to help borrowers on reversion rates who are up to date with payments but don't meet the affordability criteria required to switch to a new deal. This means that participating lenders will offer eligible borrowers the ability to switch to an alternative product.
The Government has also undertaken significant work to understand the circumstances of borrowers whose mortgages are held by inactive firms (which are not able to offer alternative products) and don’t meet the affordability requirements or risk appetite to switch to a new lender. The Government has worked with the FCA to create additional options for these borrowers, including through the introduction of a Modified Affordability Assessment which allows mortgage lenders to waive the normal affordability checks for borrowers with inactive firms who meet certain criteria, such as not wishing to borrow more.
The FCA is reviewing its data to provide further detail on the characteristics of borrowers who have mortgages with inactive firms and are unable to switch, despite being up to date with payments. The FCA is also reviewing the effect of its interventions to remove regulatory barriers to switching and will report on this by the end of November. The Treasury will use the results of this review to establish whether there are any further practical and proportionate solutions that can be found for affected borrowers.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which (a) institution, (b) Government department and (c) funding body will allocate the £22 billion for research and development announced in the Queen's Speech 2021.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Many government departments and agencies fund and undertake Research & Development. Departmental allocations are determined at Spending Reviews.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the rent arrears moratorium forfeiture for businesses in response to the delay in the easing of covid-19 restrictions that was planned for 21 June 2021.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government recognises that many businesses have struggled to pay rent to landlords during the pandemic and have built up debt. That is why we introduced measures to protect commercial tenants from eviction and against aggressive debt recovery.
We welcome negotiations between commercial landlords and their tenants to resolve any outstanding debts. But to provide more certainty, I announced on 16 June that the government will legislate to ringfence rent debt accrued during the pandemic by business effected by Covid-19 closures and set out a process of binding arbitration to be undertaken between landlords and tenants where agreement cannot be reached.
Until this legislation is in place, the existing moratorium on evictions will be extended to 25 March 2022.Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department will take to support businesses after the rent arrears forfeiture moratorium ends on 30 June 2021.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government recognises that many businesses have struggled to pay rent to landlords during the pandemic and have built up debt. That is why we introduced measures to protect commercial tenants from eviction and against aggressive debt recovery.
We welcome negotiations between commercial landlords and their tenants to resolve any outstanding debts. But to provide more certainty, I announced on 16 June that the government will legislate to ringfence rent debt accrued during the pandemic by business effected by Covid-19 closures and set out a process of binding arbitration to be undertaken between landlords and tenants where agreement cannot be reached.
Until this legislation is in place, the existing moratorium on evictions will be extended to 25 March 2022.