Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to provide an emergency support package to protect (a) disabled people’s health and finances and (b) disabled children and their families during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Like others, individuals with disabilities will benefit from the substantial level of financial support provided during the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes an injection of £7bn into the welfare system, the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). The CJRS has been extended until the end of April 2021. It is up to the employer to make the best decision for their organisation and their employees about whether to furlough staff. Standard discrimination law applies; an employer cannot decide who should be furloughed based on any protected characteristic.
However, if people with a protected characteristic disproportionately request furlough, it can be acceptable under the law for the use of furlough to be disproportionately higher in that group. Employers are encouraged to consult on the process with employees.
The Government also recognises the challenges presented by COVID-19 for all those who are living with a disability and are Clinically Extremely Vulnerable. Individuals who are Clinically Extremely Vulnerable may have access to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). Clinically Extremely Vulnerable individuals also have priority access to vaccination against COVID-19 before the general population and in line with the priority ordering set by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
The Government’s support package during the current pandemic sits alongside a substantial set of existing welfare support for individuals with disabilities. The Government will spend over £55 billion in 2020/21 on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions. The Government has implemented a range of measures to make access to disability benefits easier and to protect existing claimants during the current situation. This includes temporarily suspending face to face assessments.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to tackle scam calls claiming to be from HMRC alleging an unpaid tax bill and threatening arrest.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
HMRC take protecting taxpayers seriously; as a result of recent work they have dropped from the third to 146th most phished brand in the world in the five years to 2019. This resulted in an increase in reports of fraudulent HMRC branded telephone calls. HMRC operate a suspicious telephone contact referral service on GOV.UK, provide a suspicious e-mail referral service at phishing@hmrc.gov.uk, and a suspicious SMS referral service using the ‘60599’ SMS short code.
HMRC operates a dedicated Customer Protection team to prevent, detect and respond to frauds abusing the HMRC brand. HMRC work closely with the telecoms industry and Ofcom to block malicious phone numbers, and in the last 12 months, HMRC reported 2,687 phone numbers being used in tax-related phone scams to telecommunication companies to be taken down, and responded to more than 278,000 reports of telephone scams from the public.
Intelligence indicates these frauds are organised and conducted mainly outside of the UK jurisdiction, and HMRC are working with law enforcement and partner tax authorities nationally and internationally to reduce the harm from tax-branded voice scams.
HMRC support and lead UK investigations as appropriate. In July 2020, four individuals were arrested as part of an investigation into a suspected multi-million-pound phone scam targeting UK taxpayers. HM Revenue and Customs officers carried out searches at five addresses in East and West London on Tuesday 28 July. £10,000 in cash was seized along with a quantity of laptop and desktop computers, mobile phones and SIM cards.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much and what proportion of investment support has been provided under the Future Fund scheme to firms located in (a) London, (b) the South East and (c) Yorkshire and the Humber, to date .
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
Future Fund data, including the amount and proportion of investment made to the different regions and nations of the UK, is available on the British Business Bank website.
As of the latest update on the 28th January:
- £646.8m or 61% has been invested in London;
- £130.5m or 12% has been invested in the South East
- £30.6m or 3% has been invested in Yorkshire and the Humber
The Future Fund uses a set of standard terms with published eligibility criteria. Applications that meet all the eligibility criteria receive investment, irrespective of location.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the availability of transit guarantees; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Businesses using transit regularly (more than three times a year) need to apply to HMRC for authorisation to use a Customs Comprehensive Guarantee (CCG). Most businesses authorised by HMRC to use a CCG for transit will need to provide a guarantee undertaking from an approved financial institution.
Most businesses applying for CCG authorisation are currently being approved by HMRC within 30 days. However, businesses need to allow additional time to obtain a guarantee from a financial institution and return this to HMRC. HMRC and HMT have been engaging regularly with banks about the provision of guarantees for transit users. Banks have not reported any problems or delays with the issuance of transit guarantees.
HMRC are monitoring the use of guarantees by all transit users in the UK and will be contacting any traders who are identified as having insufficient guarantees directly to support them in either managing or increasing their transit guarantee. CCG holders who wish to increase the value of their guarantee should request this by contacting the CCG Team at HMRC: customs-comprehensive-guarantee-team.ccto@hmrc.gov.uk.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including English language schools in the covid-19 Business Rates Relief scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Business rates are administered by local government and it is for local authorities to determine eligibility for reliefs, having regard to guidance issued by the Government.
The Government understands the many areas of difficulty for businesses caused by the COVID-19 disruption and has introduced a number of measures to support businesses through this challenging period.
If any business is in a difficult position with regard to business rates bills, they are encouraged to contact their local authority to discuss whether other support may be available. A range of further measures to support all businesses, including those not eligible for the business rates holiday, has also been made available. Further information can be found at: www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support.
As set out at the Spending Review, in order to ensure that any decisions best meet the evolving challenges presented by COVID-19, the Government will outline plans for 2021-22 reliefs in due course.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will extend eligibility for the support available to the retail and leisure sectors to the English language school sector.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Business rates are administered by local government and it is for local authorities to determine eligibility for reliefs, having regard to guidance issued by the Government.
The Government understands the many areas of difficulty for businesses caused by the COVID-19 disruption and has introduced a number of measures to support businesses through this challenging period.
If any business is in a difficult position with regard to business rates bills, they are encouraged to contact their local authority to discuss whether other support may be available. A range of further measures to support all businesses, including those not eligible for the business rates holiday, has also been made available. Further information can be found at: www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support.
As set out at the Spending Review, in order to ensure that any decisions best meet the evolving challenges presented by COVID-19, the Government will outline plans for 2021-22 reliefs in due course.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to shift capital investment from road building to public transport; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Steve Barclay
Investing in public transport is a vital part of delivering this Government’s ambitions on levelling up and net zero.
The PM committed £5 billion for buses and cycling in February alongside essential improvements to North-South connectivity through HS2, while Budget 2020 committed £4.2 billion for long-term intra-city transport settlements across eight elected Mayors outside London. Altogether this represents an unprecedented investment in local public transport.
Further details on investment plans will be set out by the Chancellor through the Spending Review on 25 November.