Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including medical service providers within the Expanded Retail Discount Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has provided enhanced support to the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors in England through business rates relief, given the direct and acute impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on those sectors. Business rates in Northern Ireland are devolved.
A range of further measures to support all businesses, including those not eligible for the business rates holiday, such as medical service providers, has also been made available. For example, the Government has launched the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to help firms continue to keep people in employment, and the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme offering loans of up to £5 million for SMEs through the British Business Bank. The Government is also deferring VAT payments for this quarter.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take to prevent foreign companies and hedge funds benefiting from the fall in share prices of British companies by purchasing shares at a cheaper cost.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
This question likely refers to the practise of short selling. We are working closely with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to monitor the volatility in market prices over the past weeks as a result of the impacts of coronavirus (Covid-19).
On Monday 23 March, the FCA stated that aggregate net short selling activity reported to it had been low as a percentage of total market activity and had decreased in recent days. The FCA also stated that there is no evidence that short selling has been the driver of recent market falls. The FCA is continuing to monitor short selling activity closely.
Some European countries have introduced short selling bans, which the FCA has followed in respect of shares for which relevant European National Competent Authorities (NCAs) are responsible. The FCA has not introduced such a ban in the UK? ?and neither has any other major financial market outside the EU, including the United States. It is our view that there should be a high bar to imposing such a ban in the UK given the ?role short selling can ?play in the maintenance of open and liquid markets. This is, however, an evolving situation and we are continually evaluating our approach to ensure it is the right one for consumers.
Significant research has previously been done to examine whether bans on short selling, such as those enforced during the financial crisis in 2008, can be effective in stopping stock market falls. The evidence suggested that they were not – pricing continued to fall and so the volatility of the markets persisted.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the timescale is for the completion of the review of IR35 tax regulations.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The review of the off-payroll working rules reform (also known as IR35) was announced on 7 January 2020. As set out at Budget 2018, the reform is due to be extended to medium and large organisations in all sectors from 6 April 2020. The review is looking to determine if any further steps can be taken to ensure smooth and successful implementation of the reform. The review will conclude by mid-February 2020, after which point the recommendations will be made public.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) practical, (b) financial and (c) other support Northern Ireland Government Departments have provided to applicants in preparing their applications, designs, cost planning, option appraisals, business cases and green book appraisals for Financial Transactions Capital funding.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
The Treasury sets the Northern Ireland administration’s overall Financial Transaction Capital budget through the normal operation of the Barnett formula.
The allocation and use of Financial Transactions Capital is a devolved function and a matter for the Northern Ireland administration. This includes determining Northern Ireland departmental budget profiles and providing support for applicants for Financial Transactions Capital funding.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the profiled budgets are for Financial Transactions Capital funding in each Northern Ireland Government Department in each of the next five years.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
The Treasury sets the Northern Ireland administration’s overall Financial Transaction Capital budget through the normal operation of the Barnett formula.
The allocation and use of Financial Transactions Capital is a devolved function and a matter for the Northern Ireland administration. This includes determining Northern Ireland departmental budget profiles and providing support for applicants for Financial Transactions Capital funding.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government have taken to encourage Northern Ireland Government Departments through (a) the Programme for Government and (b) other initiatives to (i) use and (ii) maximise Financial Transactions Capital to deliver departmental objectives with third party organisations and partners.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
The Treasury sets the Northern Ireland administration’s overall Financial Transaction Capital budget through the normal operation of the Barnett formula.
The allocation and use of Financial Transactions Capital is a devolved function and a matter for the Northern Ireland administration.
Further to this funding, the UK government is committed to supporting the Northern Ireland economy. This is demonstrated, for example, by the £400m the government is investing in City Deals for Belfast and Derry/Londonderry and Strabane City Region.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which (a) projects and (b) schemes in Northern Ireland were funded in (a) part and (b) in whole by financial transactions capital since 2012-13; and what the chargeable interest rate was for that funding.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
I refer the Honourable Member to the response to PQ UIN 4378 on 28 October 2019.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the allocation of financial transactions capital, what the average approval time was for an application in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
I refer the Honourable Member to the response to PQ UIN 4378 on 28 October 2019.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much Financial Transactions Capital funding each Northern Ireland Government Department has drawn down in each year since 2012-13.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
The Treasury sets the Northern Ireland administration’s overall Financial Transaction Capital budget through the normal operation of the Barnett formula.
The annual Financial Transaction Capital budgets of the Northern Ireland administration and total Financial Transaction Capital returned to HM Treasury by the Northern Ireland administration for the period 2012-13 to 2020-21 is set out in the table:
(£m) | Financial Transaction Capital budgets | Financial Transaction Capital returned to HMT |
2012-13 | 11.8 | 0.0 |
2013-14 | 46.8 | 0.0 |
2014-15 | 62.8 | 0.0 |
2015-16 | 129.0 | 0.0 |
2016-17 | 59.2 | 34.5 |
2017-18 | 166.9 | 109.4 |
2018-19 | 182.2 | 171.9 |
2019-20 | 192.4 | n/a* |
2020-21 | 192.8 | n/a* |
Total | 1043.9 | 315.8 |
*Underspend data is not available until the end of each financial year.
Financial transaction funding is ring-fenced for loans or equity investments to the private sector.
The use of these Financial Transaction Capital budgets is a matter for the Northern Ireland administration. This includes the allocation of Financial Transaction Capital budgets to Northern Ireland departments, the drawdown of these allocations, approvals processes, and details of projects that have been funded.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much Financial Transactions Capital funding has been allocated to Northern Ireland Government Departments in each year since the inception of that scheme in 2012-13.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
The Treasury sets the Northern Ireland administration’s overall Financial Transaction Capital budget through the normal operation of the Barnett formula.
The annual Financial Transaction Capital budgets of the Northern Ireland administration and total Financial Transaction Capital returned to HM Treasury by the Northern Ireland administration for the period 2012-13 to 2020-21 is set out in the table:
(£m) | Financial Transaction Capital budgets | Financial Transaction Capital returned to HMT |
2012-13 | 11.8 | 0.0 |
2013-14 | 46.8 | 0.0 |
2014-15 | 62.8 | 0.0 |
2015-16 | 129.0 | 0.0 |
2016-17 | 59.2 | 34.5 |
2017-18 | 166.9 | 109.4 |
2018-19 | 182.2 | 171.9 |
2019-20 | 192.4 | n/a* |
2020-21 | 192.8 | n/a* |
Total | 1043.9 | 315.8 |
*Underspend data is not available until the end of each financial year.
Financial transaction funding is ring-fenced for loans or equity investments to the private sector.
The use of these Financial Transaction Capital budgets is a matter for the Northern Ireland administration. This includes the allocation of Financial Transaction Capital budgets to Northern Ireland departments, the drawdown of these allocations, approvals processes, and details of projects that have been funded.