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Written Question
National Insurance: State Retirement Pensions
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of abolishing National Insurance Contributions on funding for state pensions.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government believes the double taxation of work is unfair. That is why we’ve cut 4p from employee NICs in the last six months which will mean the average worker receives a tax cut worth £900 this coming year and why we are committed to ending this unfairness.

Cutting NICs rates does not affect anyone’s entitlement to the State Pension or contributory benefits.


Written Question
National Insurance: Pensioners
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of abolishing National Insurance Contributions on pensioners' finances.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government believes the double taxation of work is unfair. That is why we’ve cut 4p from employee NICs in the last six months which will mean the average worker receives a tax cut worth £900 this coming year and why we are committed to ending this unfairness.

Cutting NICs rates does not affect anyone’s entitlement to the State Pension or contributory benefits.


Written Question
National Insurance: State Retirement Pensions
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of abolishing National Insurance Contributions on determining eligibility criteria for the state pension.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government believes the double taxation of work is unfair. That is why we’ve cut 4p from employee NICs in the last six months which will mean the average worker receives a tax cut worth £900 this coming year and why we are committed to ending this unfairness.

Cutting NICs rates does not affect anyone’s entitlement to the State Pension or contributory benefits.


Written Question
Sanitary Protection: VAT
Monday 13th November 2023

Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that the cost saving arising from the removal of VAT on period products is passed onto consumers.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

The Government keeps all taxes and reliefs under review and considers a range of evidence, including data and research on factors like pricing, when assessing the effects of tax changes. While the Government does not control prices, a VAT relief may contribute to the conditions for price reductions.

The Government continues to monitor the effects of the zero rate on period products to aid the policymaking process and is looking into whether savings are being passed on to consumers. HMT and HMRC work closely together to integrate the findings of their monitoring and evaluation processes into future tax relief policy.


Written Question
Carbon Emissions
Monday 6th September 2021

Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to spend 1 per cent of GDP each year on meeting climate targets, as recommended by the Climate Change Committee in its report, Net Zero – The UK’s contribution to stopping global warming, published May 2019.

Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade

The Government takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously. In June 2019 the UK became the first major economy to legislate to end our net contribution to climate change by 2050. According to analysis by PwC, the UK has decarbonised its economy faster than any G20 country since 2000.

Last year, the PM set out his via his Ten Point Plan a blueprint to transition to a net zero economy whilst levelling up the country. This announced £12 billion of government investment to create and support up to 250,000 highly skilled green jobs in the UK, and spur over three times as much private sector investment by 2030. Further announcements will be made in the Government’s Net Zero Strategy, which will be published ahead of COP 26.

The CCC is an important advisor to the Government, advising on emissions targets and reports to Parliament on progress made. In December 2020, the CCC published an updated estimate of 0.5% of GDP in 2050 for the net cost of transitioning to net zero. The Government will fulfil its statutory requirement of formally responding to the CCC’s advice alongside the Net Zero Strategy later in the year.


Written Question
Mortgages: Interest Rates
Tuesday 2nd February 2021

Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to cap standard variable mortgage rates for inactive lenders to protect people who cannot move their mortgages.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Data released in July 2020 stated that customers with inactive lenders pay on average just 0.4% more than borrowers with the same lending characteristics with active lenders. In addition, the recent London School of Economics report on mortgage prisoners noted “capping SVRs at a level close to the best rate for new loans could create harm in other parts of the market, and we do not recommend it”.

The government is working closely with the Financial Conduct Authority and industry to develop switching options for mortgage consumers with inactive lenders.


Written Question
Mortgages
Monday 16th November 2020

Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support mortgage prisoners.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Government remains committed to supporting these borrowers and has worked with the FCA to implement rule changes to its mortgage lending rules, removing the regulatory barrier that prevented some customers, who otherwise may have been able to switch, from accessing new products. The new rules should allow customers to switch to an active lender as long as they meet the lenders’ risk appetite and meet certain criteria, such as not looking to borrow more. Lenders have now started contacting borrowers who have been struggling to switch with options specifically designed for them, and I hope to see even more options from active lenders over the coming months.

Some customers may not be eligible to access new mortgage products in line with the adapted affordability assessment. This is why the FCA recently confirmed additional options to support borrowers, including making intragroup switching easier and extending interest-only payments, recognising the impact of Covid-19 on borrowers. These modified rules came into force on 23 October 2020.

Moreover, on 14 September, the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) launched online information and a dedicated phone service (accessible via MaPS’ main contact number) as a key source of information and advice for borrowers with inactive lenders, including signposting to specific brokers that will be able to help.

The Government continues to work with the mortgage lending sector to ensure support is available for consumers.

The FCA also recently noted that firms should be reviewing their variable rates to ensure they adhere to regulations regarding the fair treatment of consumers. The full statement can be found here: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/statements/statement-mortgage-prisoners


Written Question
Taxis: Coronavirus
Thursday 12th November 2020

Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2020 to Question 109525 on Taxis: Coronavirus, how many self-employed taxi and private hire vehicle drivers have received grants through the first three rounds of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The information requested is not available.

Taxi and private hire vehicle drivers are part of the “Transportation and Storage” sector.

225,000 self-employed individuals in the Transportation and Storage sector claimed the first SEISS grant and 212,000 claimed the second SEISS grant.

These figures were taken from the SEISS statistics published on 21 August and 22 October respectively.

The third SEISS grant is not yet open for claims and is due to open from 30 November 2020.


Written Question
Public Houses: Coronavirus
Wednesday 4th November 2020

Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support breweries supplying pubs in Tier 2 and Tier 3 local covid-19 alert level areas.

Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade

The Government recognises that breweries have been acutely disrupted by recent necessary restrictions to the hospitality businesses they supply. That is why the Government has extended the unprecedented package of support measures, to protect businesses and jobs. This includes:

  • An extension to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme until 2 December
  • Cash grants of up to £3,000 per month to help businesses that are closed with their costs, including paying their supply chains
  • £1.1 billion of Discretionary Grant funding for local authorities to target support to the businesses that are most important to their local economy
  • Plans to extend existing loan schemes to the end of January and an option to top-up Bounce Back Loans
  • A 12-month business rates holiday for all eligible retail, leisure and hospitality businesses in England until the end of March, worth £10 billion in tax foregone.

Small breweries have and will continue to benefit directly from Government support schemes, and indirectly from the support offered to the pubs and restaurants they supply, protecting jobs in the industry. The Government is continuing to collect evidence on the impact of the pandemic on the sector and to work with businesses and representative groups to inform our efforts to support this sector.


Written Question
Self-employed: Coronavirus
Wednesday 4th November 2020

Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what additional support he is making available to (a) nightclub DJs and (b) other freelance workers in industries closed as a result of covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade

Following the implementation of further national restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus, the Government has announced additional economic measures to give individuals the flexibility to adjust and plan over the coming months. These include:

- An extension to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme until 2 December, allowing eligible employees to receive 80% of their usual salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.

- The Government has announced more generous support to the self-employed, who will now receive 80% of average trading profits in November. As SEISS grants are calculated over 3 months, this increases the total level of the grant to 55% of trading profits for November to January and the maximum grant will increase to £5,160. We will also be paying this out more quickly by bringing forward the SEISS 3 claims window from 14 December to 30 November.

- An extension of existing government-backed loan schemes and Future Fund to the end of January and an ability to top-up Bounce Back Loans

These measures, on top of the £200 billion package of support we have committed since the beginning of the crisis, will ensure that freelancers, including night-club DJs, who temporarily cannot trade or have suffered reduced demand due to the pandemic are supported over the winter.

In order to support those individuals who are not eligible for the existing package of measures, the Government has also made the welfare system more generous - worth £9.3bn according to recent OBR estimates. This includes a £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit (UC) standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element, and a nearly £1bn increase in support for renters through increases to the Local Housing Allowance rates for UC and Housing Benefit claimants.